Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT
by ShadowCell
Summary: AU, CE 77. Lord Djibril and the Earth Alliance rule the Earth Sphere with an iron fist. Among the civil war, a young Natural is swept up with the great Resistance battleship Minerva, with the likes of Athrun Zala and Shinn Asuka...
1. Phase 01: The Destiny Gundam

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Disclaimer: _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED CE 73 STARGAZER,_ _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED ASTRAY_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FRAME ASTRAYS_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED CE 73 DELTA ASTRAY_, _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED MSV _and _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY MSV_ are the property of Bandai and Sunrise, not me. I make no money off of this work. This is purely for entertainment purposes, and no copyright infringement is intended.

—

This is a sequel to my retelling of _Gundam SEED DESTINY_, by the same name. That story was a sprawling tale that spanned two years, six separate pieces of fanfiction, and about a hundred characters. It was an alternate universe version that took some rather divergent paths from the original story of _Gundam SEED DESTINY_ (not to mention took a long time to write). Understanding _this_ story, "SEED TWILIGHT," is entirely contingent on reading my rewrite of _DESTINY_. Reading the pre-sequel, "Red Planet," is not necessary, but it does explain what at least one very important character is up to in the time between _DESTINY_ and "TWILIGHT."

I will post a new chapter every Friday, or the soonest day thereafter should something arise on Friday to keep me from posting.

—

In CE 74, the Junius War came to an end, with ZAFT attempting to fire its new superweapon Solomon's Sword at the Earth. The attempt failed; Solomon's Sword was disabled before it could fire and subsequently destroyed by the forces of the Earth Alliance. FAITH member Valentine Sunogachi and Strike Freedom Gundam pilot Kira Yamato led the ZAFT fleet in a retreat to Mars.

In CE 77, Lord Djibril's Earth Alliance brutally subjugates the world, hunting down and killing any remaining Coordinators. To fight back, a patchwork Resistance has been formed, but it is splintered along religious, political, and ethnic lines, and in three years of civil war, its successes have been few.

However, among this fragile coalition of tribes and sects and parties, the warship _Minerva_ and its powerful contingent of Gundams are universally seen as the symbol of hope for the oppressed...

—

Phase 01 - The Destiny Gundam

—

**February 23rd, CE 77 - Reykjavik, Iceland**

The two men came to a stop at a sidewalk bench. One pulled a bottle of water from his pocket, and unscrewed the cap with a flick of his wrist, glancing down at the concrete bench facing a frozen water canal that vanished around a cluster of buildings; he brought the plastic bottle to his lips, taking a long drink. A drop of water escaped from the corner of his mouth, but he brushed it off, rubbing his scruffy, black-bearded chin and scraping the ragged black hair out of his lined face.

"Vermilion," he began in a gravelly, aged voice, glancing at his companion through the puffy white cloud of his own breath, "we've still got a few hours."

Vermilion crossed his arms. He returned the first man's gaze, adjusting the thin, dark sunglasses over his young face as they slipped down his nose, brushing unkempt black hair from his shielded eyes.

"We'll find something to do, Hakim," Vermilion answered. He turned back towards the canal. "The ship won't leave for a few more days anyway."

Hakim slumped down on the bench, crossing one thick brown combat boot over the other. "Might as well get what we can now, then, _insha'Allah_," he pointed out, gesturing with his bottle before bringing it back to his lips.

Vermilion shrugged. "We have plenty of time. Inspecting the ship will take a while, and he always has to make a showy entrance too."

As if on cue, a huge jet roared overhead. Vermilion and Hakim glanced up at the white and sky-blue shuttle emblazoned with the seal of the Earth Alliance, escorted on either side by the shadowy forms of two black mobile suits.

"Right on time," Vermilion said with a smile.

"You gotta teach me to do that someday," Hakim muttered.

Vermilion idly kicked a rock with the toe of his tall black leather boot. "We'll give it a couple of hours," he said, "and see what—"

He trailed off, looking towards the crowds as they shuffled along the sidewalks. Hakim looked up at him sharply, his gloved fist clenching around his water bottle.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice hushed and tight.

Vermilion frowned.

_I feel something..._ he thought. _...pressure...that I haven't felt before..._ He looked back towards Hakim. "Someone..."

"What do you mean?" Hakim asked, casting an uneasy glance towards the pedestrians himself. Vermilion raised his hand enough to stay Hakim's, as the older man reached reassuringly for the pistol that Vermilion knew he had somewhere in his coat.

"Not an enemy," he added. Hakim's tension did not vanish. "But someone..." He returned his gaze to the crowd. _Pressure..._

A single person passed into his field of view, standing out amid the blurs of heavy coats and moving bodies. Vermilion caught the gaze of a teenage girl's wide green eyes, framed by wavy orange-red hair. Something came to life in her eyes, a name flashed into Vermilion's mind as he detected a twinge of fear, and she tried to disappear into the crowd.

"Her?" Hakim asked, after she had gone.

Vermilion blinked his disorientation away. "She was...like me," he said haltingly. He looked down at Hakim. "One of us."

Hakim glanced back in the direction she had gone. "One of you?"

Vermilion frowned determinedly. "Follow her," he said, "and let me know what you find out."

Hakim nodded, taking another swig of water and getting up, slipping into the crowds and disappearing.

Vermilion looked back after him, still turning the feeling over in his mind.

_Emily...?_

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Heaven's Base, Iceland**

With a hiss and a blast of steam, the hatch opened, dozens of arms sprang up in a prompt salute, and a hollow clicking sound preceded the dark, terrifying figure of Lord Djibril.

The tall, trim man stood with a long black cane with a steel skull at its head in hand, grimly surveying the tableau before him. Although dressed in a simple and understated black suit with a long black trench coat, collar upturned, it was clear that he was a leader, a man not to be crossed. Another man in the black Phantom Pain variation of the new design of the ubiquitous Earth Alliance uniform stepped forward, saluting sharply.

"On behalf of the crew," the grizzled, mustachioed man said, "welcome aboard the _Charlemagne_, President Djibril."

Djibril seized the man's hand in a firm handshake. "Captain Ivan Danilov," he said ostentatiously. "You're in command of the finest ship we've yet built. I hope you'll take care of it."

"Of course, sir," Danilov answered. "The best crew and pilots of the Phantom Pain have been assigned to this ship. I can't go wrong with a contingent like that."

"You have a special mission, captain," Djibril continued. He gestured to the captain's chair—Danilov handed him the intercom speaker. "One that your entire crew must know." He flicked the intercom on, casting a sweeping gaze out over the _Charlemagne_'s vast hull. "Crew of the new Alliance warship LCAM/V-01XA2 _Charlemagne_," he said, loudly and grandly, "this is Lord Djibril, President of the Earth Alliance. Your attention is requested."

Danilov absently imagined that he could feel the crew snap to attention through the floor of the bridge.

"For three years, we have fought a bitter civil war against Chiao Xu and the Resistance," Djibril continued. "We would be fools to ignore their strength. They are organized and determined to sow the seeds of discord throughout this world we have fought so hard to forge. We cannot allow them to continue doing so. As we all know, they are a disparate group—they represent the last scraps of ZAFT, as well as a wide array of enemies, spanning Marxist guerillas, Islamic fundamentalists, Tibetan separatists, African insurgents, and criminal elements. We have fought a palette that represents the world. And we have had as many successes as we have had failures.

"But this motley array of enemies has one guiding, unifying symbol among their combative ranks—the _Minerva_." Djibril visibly suppressed a scowl. "For three years, the _Minerva_ has harassed us and bloodied us, and always eluded justice, protected by the shimmering wings of ZAFT's prodigal son. Many pilots have launched to fight him. Few have returned.

"But today, that will change! This warship was built by the brightest minds of the Earth Sphere, and is crewed by you, the best that the Phantom Pain has to offer! Field Marshal Markav herself has testified to the worthiness of each and every one of you, from Captain Danilov down to the lowliest deckhand. Such a gathering of skill is necessary to crush our mortal foe. _Charlemagne_, your mission is simple—find and destroy the _Minerva!_"

Djibril replaced the intercom on the side of the captain's chair and turned to Danilov. "Captain," he said, "as an officer of the Phantom Pain, you are authorized to use your full authority in pursuit of the _Minerva_. Do not leave a single recognizable scrap of that ship left."

Danilov promptly saluted. "Yes sir."

Djibril swept out of the room as ominously as he had entered, and Danilov heaved a sigh once the bridge door shut. He turned towards his second-in-command, finding Commander Vera Wilson still standing at attention. Behind her crisp black Phantom Pain uniform and her upturned shock of blonde hair, Danilov could see her blue eyes sparkling—she was still dazzled at having been so close to the most powerful man in the universe.

"Captain," one of the deckhands said, "we've still got a few more days before we can officially set out. The supplies are not yet fully loaded and the checks haven't been finished."

"Then let's get to it," Danilov said. "Vera." She snapped out of her trance and promptly turned towards her captain. "Make sure all the supplies are loaded and the mobile suits are accounted for. This is our maiden voyage—there is to be no slipping up."

"Yes sir," she answered, full of energy, and immediately plunged into the growing buzz of work on the bridge. Danilov turned towards the windows, casting a forbidding glance across the grim tableau of the dry-dock at Heaven's Base.

"It's strange," he muttered to himself. "We won the war three years ago, but we still keep finding people to fight."

—

A can of soda—no alcohol was allowed on the base premises, of course, thanks to the Phantom Pain's austere policies—went sailing across the walkway, landing with a clatter on the ground. Across the way, Shams Coza sneered as Lord Djibril's voice boomed across the airfield.

"The best of Phantom Pain?" he scoffed, casting a smirk across the base grounds, towards the hulking shadow of the _Charlemagne_. "We're not even on it." He fidgeted in annoyance with the cuffs of his black Phantom Pain uniform.

Next to him, Mudie Holcroft idly toyed with the collar of her own uniform, with the shirt pulled open and a pair of faded blue jeans replacing the black slacks as per her usual, _unique_ tastes. "They're all idiots anyway," she mumbled, half to herself, staring down at the airfield below.

Standing apart from Shams and Mudie, Sven Cal Bayan crossed his arms, staring out towards the _Charlemagne_. The ship would not take off for a few more days, and the base commandant had specifically asked Sven to keep his Devil's Sword Team here on standby, to provide security should something go wrong before the _Charlemagne_ launched. After the launch, Sven would take his team back to the forests of northwestern France, where a certain Resistance unit hiding near Normandy would meet its maker.

"We must have fallen far if we're not the best of the Phantom Pain anymore," Shams laughed. "Right, Sven?"

Sven glanced over at Shams and said nothing.

—

It was always the main gate that was most terrifying to sixteen-year-old Emily von Oldendorf, as she timidly approached the terrifying main door that terminated a long road, leading into the titanic complex of Heaven's Base. She brushed aside the long orange lock hanging down over the right side of her face—it fell back into its usual place, despite her trembling hands. She was a mere servant who was but one among an army that kept things orderly in the sprawling residence of Lord Djibril. She'd only seen the man himself once or twice, but that was enough to induce nightmares. He loomed over everything like Death itself, from the global politics that were way over her head to the daily household chores that were Emily's meager bread and butter.

Although she was only a servant, she had to pass through the elaborate security system of Heaven's Base. Shamefully showing to the guards the badges that marked her as a domestic servant, they waved her through the checkpoints—and, while subconsciously drawing her coat closer around herself, she could see in their eyes that some of those guards were thinking indecent thoughts about her. How low could her existence go? That would depend on how fast she could get back to the servants' quarters. After all, she had heard the stories of less-than-obedient girls being left in the dubious auspices of some of those salacious guards, and the glassy, soulless look in the eyes of those girls when—or _if—_they returned was a horror that spoke all for itself.

At a reasonable pace—and one always wanted to remain reasonable inside the iron walls of Heaven's Base, lest one draw the attention and the truncheons of the guards—it took nearly fifteen minutes to pass through the requisite checkpoints and reach the servants' quarters. Once she was there, she caught sight of the burly, glowering old woman who was in charge of her particular group of servants—and before she could run, the angry old spinster was upon her, fire in her eyes.

"Where have you been?" the old woman snapped. Emily shrank back in fright, her green eyes wide with fear. "The master has already arrived, and we had a fine job of cleaning the east wing up for him without you!" A thundering blow sent Emily staggering to the floor. "We're on a schedule here! If any one of us fails, all of us will be held accountable! Now wait in your room, and you'll get your punishment later!"

Emily crawled into her room without a word, knowing that speaking would probably just make it worse. She huddled on her bed, hers out of twenty-four bunk beds crammed into this room for the servants, and, sitting in the dark, wondered what her punishment would be.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Heaven's Base, Iceland**

"Our orders are to hunt down and destroy the _Minerva_," Ivan Danilov explained in the briefing room of the _Charlemagne_.

The ship was certainly built to destroy _something_. At over a kilometer long, with a crew of over 1,700, built like a seafaring naval battleship of bygone days with a terrifying black hull, it was clearly designed to overpower the fast and durable _Minerva_. Surely ZAFT's pride could not stand up to the _Charlemagne_'s Requiem X2 main cannon, two Lohengrin positron cannons, four triple-barreled Gottfrieds, six double-barreled Gottfrieds, six Valiants, sixty missile launchers, sixty-eight Igelstellung emplacements, and forty gleaming new Dark Windams. Whole fleets would have trouble dealing with _that_ kind of complement.

Danilov pointed to the map of the Atlantic Ocean on the briefing room's main screen, and faced his officers. "The _Minerva_ has been preying on our shipping since December," he explained. "However, in the past couple of days they've disappeared. Our job is to find and destroy them." He tapped his baton against his hand. "Are there any questions?"

Silence reigned. Danilov dismissed his men and glanced at the image on the screen behind him, of the _Minerva_ in battle against Alliance forces.

_It seems awfully wasteful_, he thought, _to build one ship just to take down another_.

He shrugged. No sense in wondering, and the _Minerva_ had killed many Alliance soldiers, so, Danilov supposed, it was time for payback.

—

Silent and stealthy was Hakim's _modus operandi_, as he darted through the shadows of Heaven's Base. Security was tight, but no fortress was completely impregnable—and Hakim's stolen uniform of an Earth Alliance lieutenant helped as well. Nonetheless, he kept one hand in his coat pocket, firmly clutching the Glock 9mm hidden there in case anyone should try anything cute. Hakim knew that God would guide him and protect him, but it didn't hurt to have the Glock either.

He made a right around a corner and inspected his position from the safety of the shadows. It was near the quarters for the domestic servants, it appeared—security was minimal, probably because no one cared about the servants, and of the personnel at Heaven's Base, they were probably the easiest to replace. He noticed that it was starting to rain, and wondered if that would ground the fighter patrols and mobile suits. It was looking to be a heavy storm—the sky lit up with a flash of lightning, and rumbled ominously a few moments later. Eventually, given Iceland's climate, it would turn to snow—but hopefully not before Hakim could get in and do what had to be done.

He crept through the shadows, across the doors, and into an empty room. There was a computer terminal there—it looked like a guard's quarters. He locked the door behind him and set to work. From a computer inside the base, where few expected an intrusion, slithering his digital fingers into the base's archives was simple, and within moments he held in his hands a disk loaded with the data he sought. He glanced perfunctorily over the information—battle plans for an attack on the Carpentaria base in Australia, designs for that massive new battleship in the dry-dock, assorted odds and ends that the Alliance would sorely miss. Smiling at his handiwork, he pocketed the disk, took up his pistol, and slipped back out.

Immediately he found himself in the line of sight of two Alliance soldiers in the middle of the hallway. They turned towards him in surprise—Hakim scowled and let his Glock do the talking, firing two shots to kill them both within a second.

The alarm sounded; Hakim snarled under this breath and ducked into the shadows.

—

"Intruder!" the intercom shrieked. "Intruder detected in Sector 4! All personnel, Security Status 1!"

Sven leapt out of his seat in the officer's mess with the agility of a tiger, launching himself off the table and bounding to the door, with Mudie and Shams on his heels, over the heads of a number of stunned officers. Sven ducked out into the hall and flagged down a passing sergeant, racing by with his squad, assault rifles ready.

"Sergeant! What's going on?" Sven demanded.

"There's an intruder, sir!" the sergeant answered breathlessly. "In the domestic quarters!"

Sven glanced over his shoulder. "You two stand by in your mobile suits," he said to Mudie and Shams. "The intruder may try to steal a mobile suit."

"But if they're in the domestic quarters—" Shams protested.

"That's an order!" Sven barked. "Get moving!"

Shams heaved a sigh, glancing over at Mudie, and they went running down the hall towards the hangar. Sven turned his attention back to the sergeant, drawing his sidearm. "You, come with me," he said. "We'll find this intruder."

—

Emily lay back in her bunk, trying to put off the dread of whatever her punishment would be for being late. Hopefully it would only be temporary confinement or a beating, and nothing too hideous. But it would do her no good to dwell—she had dwelt on her impending fate before, and it had only made things worse. She sent her thoughts wandering off in a different direction.

It was a long way from Berlin, that was for sure.

She thought back to life in the townhouse of her father, Gerhardt, then an ambitious member of the Eurasian Federation's military research wing. She remembered her older sister, Viveka; boundless and full of energy, racing through the house with her cherry-red hair whipping behind her and driving their endless array of caretakers absolutely insane. She remembered the sad eyes of her mother, Lorelei, quiet and frail and often bedridden. She remembered the dozens of nurses and nannies and tutors that her father sent forth to take her mother's place. She remembered the mistresses of her father. She remembered the odious men, both military and civilian, that he frequently hosted.

And, of course, she remembered the day it all was taken away.

Emily looked up in surprise as she heard the alarms. An intruder, gunshots, what was going on?

An inkling of what was going on came when her door went bursting open, and a tall, dark figure stumbled in. The door slammed shut a moment later, and Emily felt her blood run cold as she heard the lock click.

The figure turned around, and Emily stared tremulously up at the sweaty, adrenaline-lined face of Hakim. He blinked in surprise for a moment, and then his face lit up in recognition.

"God is with me today after all," he chuckled. He fell silent as boots tramped by the door, but they faded into the distance a moment later, and he took a tentative step towards Emily. "You look afraid."

Emily said nothing, curled up on the floor in front of Hakim, shaking.

"My name is Hakim," he said. "I'm with the Resistance." At that Emily went white—but Hakim either did not notice or did not care, and seized her by her trembling arm, pulling her up. "Do you want to escape?"

"E-Escape?" Emily exclaimed. Hakim clapped a hand over her mouth, glaring. "I-I can't escape," Emily murmured, "they'll kill me!"

Hakim eyed her carefully for a moment, staring into her teary green eyes. He pulled her towards the back window and opened it with his gun hand, pushing it open and peering out. It opened into the shadows, and there didn't appear to be any troops. He glanced back at Emily—she stared him silently, horrified.

"Well, there are parties interested in you," he said. "And the people here would probably kill you anyway. So you're coming with me."

Before she could say anything, Hakim clapped a hand over her mouth again and vaulted through the window, landing with a crunch on the pavement outside.

"Why are you taking me?" Emily protested. "I'm just a servant! I'm not important!"

Hakim grinned behind his ragged beard. "I have a friend who would beg to differ," he said. "Now, be quiet. We're leaving."

He took off at a sprint through the back alleys, heading for the mobile suit hangars.

—

"The hangars?" the sergeant exclaimed as he struggled to keep up with Sven. Sven glanced over his shoulder; the sergeant looked up helplessly at him. "Sir, they caught sight of the intruder! He's heading towards the mobile suit hangars, and he's got a prisoner!"

"A prisoner?" Sven asked, stopping. "Who?"

"A servant, nobody important," the sergeant said. "He's heading for Hangar A3!"

"What the hell does he want with a servant...?" Sven growled. "Head him off, I'm going for the Noir!"

—

Gunshots rang out as Hakim rolled over his shoulder, with Emily in tow, between a pair of crates and ducked into the nearest mobile suit hangar. The mechanics inside barely had time to turn in surprise before Hakim opened fire, killing three of them with his opening volley. The rest fled, as guards poured inside. Hakim raced up a flight of stairs, dragging Emily behind him.

"What are you doing!" Emily cried. "They're going to kill us!"

"They'll kill _me,_" Hakim shot back, "but so help me God, they won't lay a finger on _you!_" He stuffed the disk into Emily's coat pocket and shoved her headlong into the empty cockpit of a silent Jet Windam. "Launch that thing and get out of here!" He threw himself down onto the gantry and squeezed off shots at the Alliance soldiers below, using the metal surface to protect himself from their return fire. "Take off and head east, and meet with a man called Vermilion!"

"But I can't do this!" Emily protested. "I don't know what's going on!"

Hakim leapt to his feet and charged down the gantry, as a squad of soldiers reached the top of the stairs, and cut them down with an automatic spray of bullets. He fired back down below—desperate return shots bounced off the Windam's armor, and Emily shrieked in terror, putting her hands over her head. As she did, her elbow hit one of the switches, slamming the Windam's hatch shut—and a moment later, the Windam activated. Emily stared with wide eyes at the controls as the Windam came online, and saw the fighting outside, as Hakim emptied an assault rifle into the Alliance troops below.

There was a thundering crash next to Emily—the Windam to her left had activated as well, and was pointing its beam rifle at her.

"Come out with your hands up!" the pilot shouted over the loudspeaker. Emily went white in fear, edging away from the screen. She put her foot down on the pedal in the middle of the cockpit floor—the Windam lurched forward, smashing its way through the gantry. She pushed the right-hand pedal next—the Windam staggered away, towards the hangar entrance.

"It's moving! Clear out!" the soldiers cried, scrambling for cover. Hakim poured firepower into them and turned towards the second Windam. It leveled off its beam rifle at Emily—Hakim leapt off the railing, abandoning his rifle and ripping open his coat, to reveal a row of bombs strapped to his chest.

Emily watched in disbelief as he pulled something from his chest, holding it aloft as he sailed towards the Windam's cockpit.

A thundering blast sent Emily's Windam pitching forward—a strange sensation of something disappearing washed over her, and in panic, she pushed the controls forward and found the Windam stumbling out of the hangar and taking off into the air.

She glanced over her shoulder, at the rear-view screen, and saw the smoking crater left of the hangar.

—

With a blast of exhaust, the Strike Noir lunged into the air, followed by the Blu Duel and Verde Buster on sub-wing units. Sven scanned the skies for any sign of a Windam that had blown its way out of Hangar A3, and caught sight of something heading into the Denmark Strait.

"Is that where that little bitch went?" Shams grunted. "I thought it was just some maid or something! How the hell did she manage to do all this?"

"The infiltrator blew himself up in the hangar to buy this servant time to escape," Sven said flatly. "There must be something important about her."

"There'll be something _dead_ about her soon enough," Mudie snapped. "She's just a servant."

Sven glanced down at the Strike Noir's screen. "The base computer was hacked just before the intruder was sighted," he said. "That Windam may be carrying vital information."

"So what?" Shams shot back. "If we kill her before she can tell anyone, then no harm is done!"

Sven narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of the Windam, up ahead in the distance, cruising forward. "We will attempt to capture the Windam and its pilot," he said. "If we cannot, then we will destroy it."

—

**Denmark Strait, North Atlantic Ocean**

Emily clutched her shoulders in terror as the Windam sped forward, skimming over the ocean's surface. Everything was running through her mind all at once, jumbling into a terrifying mess of fire and death, the same blazing fireball that Hakim had vanished into. She felt the disk inside her pocket, and only a few ounces of plastic and metal suddenly felt like lead. The cockpit was cold, but she couldn't find the strength to move.

Something in the cockpit began beeping—Emily started up in fright, eyes wide, and stared down at the screens. One of them was showing three dots moving close in towards the center of the display—Emily realized with a cold feeling of horror that there were Alliance units coming after her.

Across the way, inside the Strike Noir, Sven drew the Noir's beam pistols. "Take out the Striker pack first," he instructed. "It'll be helpless from there."

"Yeah, whatever," Shams snorted. "It's only a servant."

Emily seized the controls, survival instinct taking over. Green lines lanced out from the incoming mobile suits—Emily realized that they were beams, and yanked the controls to the right. The Windam banked to the side, the shots sailing by. Emily watched them go in disbelief.

"I...I dodged it...?"

Memories squirmed at the edge of her consciousness. Why did this feel familiar? Where had she done this before? She wracked her brain for the source of this feeling. She had never set foot inside a mobile suit before—so why did this seem so natural?

The Alliance mobile suits came closer—their faces were illuminated by a flash of lightning, and Emily felt her blood run cold as she saw the faces of not mere Windams, but the cold twin sensors of Gundams. She searched for the booster and tried to pick up speed, praying that she could outrun them, but more beams blocked her path and only instinct kept her from flying into them.

Up above, the Blu Duel leveled off both of its beam guns. Mudie scowled in annoyance.

"I _thought_ she was just a servant," she snarled. "She must have a guardian angel."

The Verde Buster opened fire with its own rifles, but Emily pushed the controls forward desperately, and the Windam pitched down towards the water, the beams sailing by just inches over the Windam's head.

"Oh, for Christ's sake!" Shams snapped. "We don't have to take her _seriously_, do we?"

"Aim for the Striker pack," Sven insisted. He opened fire himself with his beam pistols, but again the Windam found a way to dodge the blasts, veering towards the left and taking off low over the water. Emily's heart raced as she searched for a way to speed up, jamming down the center pedal and lurching forward.

"I don't wanna die...!" she cried. "They're gonna kill me!"

"Real cute, bitch!" Shams yelled. The Verde Buster rocketed into the Windam's path—before Emily could even scream, the Verde Buster slammed the Windam's face with a devastating roundhouse kick. The Windam dropped into the water helplessly. "_Gotcha!_" Shams laughed, moving back and leveling off his left-hand rifle for a final attack—

And then a bright green beam came blazing out of the heavens, stabbing through Shams' rifle and blowing it apart. The Verde Buster staggered back, smoke pouring from its ruined cannon, and looked up into the air.

"_What the hell is that?_" Shams screamed.

Emily stared up in disbelief at her savior, and found herself staring into the eyes of another Gundam. It floated above the battlefield, a rifle drawn and pointed down towards the Verde Buster, with shimmering wings of light extending from its back.

"The Destiny?" Mudie exclaimed.

"How the hell did we miss _that?_" Sven growled. "Shams—"

Before Sven could speak another word, the Destiny Gundam lunged down towards the Verde Buster. Shams yelped in surprise, igniting the bayonet on his remaining gun, and brought it up towards the charging Destiny. But an instant later, a beam shield on the Destiny's hand flashed to life, batting the bayonet aside and slamming its right hand down on the Verde Buster's shoulder. Something flashed, and a moment later, the Verde Buster's shoulder exploded, sending the left arm flying into the ocean. Shams cursed as the Verde Buster rattled under the blast—and a moment later, a powerful follow-up palm cannon blast annihilated the Verde Buster's head, knocking it off its sub-wing and into the ocean.

"Shams!" Mudie shouted. "Get out of the way!" She sent a pair of beam blasts down towards the Destiny—it somersaulted aside, leaving a trail of afterimages shimmering in its wake. "What the—?"

"It has Mirage Colloid!" Sven shouted. "Get back!"

The Destiny darted up into the air, firing its long beam cannon down towards the Blu Duel. Mudie ducked to the side, pitching through the air and nearly losing her sub-wing unit in the process. The Destiny came roaring down, a huge anti-ship sword raised high. Mudie raised the Blu Duel's shield, but with a crash, the Destiny's sword went tearing through the Blu Duel's shield, snapping it in two. The Destiny brought the sword down through the Blu Duel's arm and leg, and ripped the sub-wing unit in two—and with a thunderous crash, delivered a devastating kick to the Blu Duel's face, sending it careening into the ocean.

The Destiny turned its cold green eyes on the Strike Noir. Sven glared in frustration at his shimmering foe, leveling off both his beam pistols and opening fire. The Destiny danced gracefully around Sven's shots, swinging its sword around horizontally—Sven sent the Noir pitching backward desperately. "He'd tear apart reinforcements," Sven grunted, ducking another sword blow and taking off along the water. "Dammit!"

The Strike Noir holstered its two pistols and dipped down towards the water, seizing the dismembered Blu Duel and Verde Buster and lifting off with a flash of exhaust.

The Destiny watched them go for a moment, hovering over the water, before returning its sword to the rack on its backpack and shutting down its beam wings. The terrifying Gundam turned towards Emily's Windam as it floundered in the sea and pulled it back into the air.

Emily stared up fearfully at her savior, as it regarded her with cold, soulless eyes for a moment. At last, a face appeared on the screen in front of her—that of a young man, framed with tussled black hair. Thin sunglasses obscured his eyes; a trio of jagged scars marred his left cheek. Emily felt her blood freeze as she realized that she was staring into the face of the man that Hakim had called Vermilion—a man whose face she knew by another, far more frightening name.

He studied Emily for a moment, before speaking in a calm and chillingly young voice.

"The man who was with you and put you in that mobile suit," he said. "Hakim. What happened to him?"

The explosion flashed before Emily's eyes again, as the words in a language she did not understand rang in her ears. "He...he died," she stammered. "I-I think he blew himself up..."

Vermilion's face twitched momentarily with a flicker of grief. It vanished an instant later. "I see," he answered.

Emily mustered up her courage. "...who are you?" she asked. "A-Are you...?"

Vermilion paused for a moment, and removed his sunglasses.

Emily's eyes went wide in terror, and with a scream, her hands flying over the Windam's controls, she sent her stolen machine rocketing away from the Destiny along the surface of the water.

Vermilion watched her go, narrowing his crimson eyes.

—

To be continued...


	2. Phase 02: Vermilion

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 02 - Vermilion

—

**February 23rd, CE 77 - Denmark Strait, North Atlantic Ocean**

The Windam raced off over the ocean, rocketing away as fast as its pilot knew how to command its engines to carry it. Inside the Destiny Gundam, left in the Windam's wake, Vermilion watched the stolen machine take off.

A familiar feeling raced trough his veins, up his nerves, and into his brain. He turned it over in his mind. Fear. He could feel fear.

He thought back to the feeling from Reykjavik, the feeling of fear, the feeling of being discovered, touched by something not understood, and thus, feared. Now he felt her terror radiating from within the Windam's armor, as a thousand thoughts and memories and strands of knowledge converged into one terrifying name.

Vermilion couldn't help but smile. His reputation preceded him.

_A nickname is forever, I guess_.

He shook his head, donned his sunglasses, and took off after the Windam.

—

"Motherfucking Christ!" Shams screamed. "Thirty seconds, that took! _Thirty fucking seconds!_"

Sven suppressed the urge to roll his eyes as the Strike Noir staggered through the air, heavily laden with the maimed and smoldering Blu Duel and Verde Buster in hand. Shams would be complaining about his ignominious defeat at the flashing, beam cannon-equipped hands of the Destiny Gundam for some time, it seemed—which was all the more incentive to quickly get them landed and out of his hair.

He peered up ahead at a massive, dark shape looming among the clouds; with a flick of his wrist, he opened a transmission with the object.

"Carrier _Mindanao_," he said, "this is Captain Sven Cal Bayan of the Phantom Pain. Do you copy?"

Up ahead, the huge gray form of a six-engine _Siegfried _-class carrier plane dipped down from the clouds. The hangar bay in its nosecone yawned open.

"This is the _Mindanao_, Captain," a tired voice answered. "Ready to receive you."

Sven's screens flickered to life, and the face of a nondescript, square-jawed man in the brown uniform of the Earth Alliance Air Force appeared before him. "Evening, Captain Bayan. I'm Captain Williams, commander of the _Mindanao_. I think I can see already what it is you need."

"While these two get repaired, I'll need three mobile suits," Sven answered. "Two IWSP Windams and a Lightning Windam. The stolen Windam contains important data that we must not allow to fall into enemy hands."

"Well, I can route the request back to Heaven's Base or Dublin—" Williams started.

"No," Sven cut him off. "Your mobile suits. I have no time to wait for reinforcements to fly in from a base."

"But Captain—" Williams protested.

"_No time,_" Sven interrupted. "Get me those Windams, captain. I'm requisitioning them under my authority as a Phantom Pain officer. We cannot allow that stolen unit to escape."

Williams let out a defeated sigh. "Yes sir," he answered. "It will take time to fit the Windams for combat."

"Then get to it," Sven answered. "The Destiny Gundam is loose out there."

—

**North Atlantic Ocean**

It was almost too terrifying to think.

Of the baffling vortex of thoughts swirling around in the bubbly soup of Emily's brain, the realization that she had only a marginal idea of how to operate a mobile suit was the most prominent, among those that consciously occurred to her. She recalled that there was a difference between mobile suits made for Naturals and for Coordinators—that one was far easier to operate than the other, and her survival for this long was probably partially attributable to this being a mobile suit designed for a Natural such as herself.

And there was that feeling. She knew that she had never used a mobile suit before—but it felt so _natural_, as though she _had_.

But what did it matter? They would find her anyway, and they would send real pilots after her, and they would kill her—

Determinedly and desperately, she shook her head. What good would it do to panic over it all again? Right now she had to survive.

But how, she wondered, could she survive when faced with the jackboots and guns of the Phantom Pain? They were the finest soldiers of the Earth Alliance, handpicked by Lord Djibril and Field Marshal Markav, trained and honed and disciplined into the most terrifying soldiers the world had seen. The personal army of Lord Djibril had its hounds on her heels—who could survive that? Only _he_, the man with the Destiny Gundam, the shimmering angel of destruction that had saved her from certain death, could face them in battle and live to tell the tale—indeed, even succeed, and have formidable tales to tell. But she could not do what the Destiny Gundam had done. She could run around the world and still never outrun the Phantom Pain.

The survival instinct rose within her. She could not die like that. The world was vast, and for all the accolades and glories that Djibril and his cronies had heaped onto the Phantom Pain, they still had not destroyed the Resistance. Chiao Xu still lived. The _Minerva_ still sailed. Even in Djibril's homeland of the Atlantic Federation, there was violence and guerilla activity and terrorist attacks. The Phantom Pain could be eluded.

Her survival instinct compelled her to fumble around the cockpit for a map. After some searching, it duly appeared on the screen before her. She found her Windam cruising southeast, away from Iceland, towards Ireland. But she would find no refuge there. Although the world was liberally peppered with military bases for every branch of the Earth Alliance armed forces, Ireland was the site of Dublin Air Base, which kept watch over the whole of the North Atlantic. And it was well within striking distance of the sprawling naval strongholds of Belfast and Scapa Flow, and even Heaven's Base could extend its arm here as well. These were the sorts of things one learned while living and working in Heaven's Base, and now these fragments of knowledge burned like matches into her brain. Was there no escape?

The survival instinct focused her on Ireland's western coast, where she found an array of smaller islands. She could never hide there—she was but one little girl, and if she left the relative safety of her stolen Windam's armor, she would be exposed to far more than just mobile suits.

The islands might have been meaningful to someone else, but they were not to Emily. The letters came together merely as words that produced sounds that died in her throat for want of the courage to be voiced. She glanced nervously over her shoulder at the Windam's rear-view camera—only the inky, briny sea lay behind her, covered by a sentinel of thick clouds. The storm was following her, it seemed, but the Phantom Pain was nowhere to be found.

They were _always_ nowhere to be found.

Her trembling hands clutched the controls, and she shifted her course south, towards something called the "Aran Islands." She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that nobody would find her there.

—

**Inishmore, Aran Islands, Ireland**

The Destiny Gundam settled into the cover offered by a towering cliff over the ocean, and similarly, Vermilion settled back into his cockpit seat. Huge boulders, towering even over the Destiny, could provide him further cover from the eyes of the Phantom Pain, at least until he was ready to attack.

And with that, he keyed in a frequency and opened up a transmission.

A few moments later, the static was replaced by the bleary-eyed face of a girl with braided red hair and bloodshot blue eyes. She groaned and straightened out her rumpled camouflage-patterned shirt.

"Rise and shine, Roxy," Vermilion said, almost chuckling.

"For fuck's sake, it's five in the morning," she grumbled. "Don't you sleep?"

"And miss out on a chance to piss off our alcoholic operator girl? I think not. Patch me through to Meyrin."

"If she's awake," Roxy muttered.

"I _am_ awake," another voice shot back. Vermilion suppressed a smile as a woman—and it felt strange to just think of her as a woman—in a blue ZAFT overcoat stepped into the field of view. Even on the tiny screen, he could see her hands brushing back the magenta-hued hair from her thin, young, fragile face. "What's going on?"

"The data has been smuggled out of Heaven's Base," Vermilion said, "but there have been some...complications."

"Complications?" Meyrin echoed. "What could possibly be going wrong _now?_"

"Lots of things," Vermilion answered. "Murphy's Law allows no exceptions."

'Well, what _is_ going wrong?"

Vermilion's faint smile disappeared. "Hakim got into the base well enough," he explained, "but he never made it out. He press-ganged somebody there to carry the data out in a stolen Windam, and according to the girl he saddled with our prize, he blew himself up to cover her escape."

"Oh, jeez..." Roxy sighed.

"I encountered this girl in the Windam and fought off the Alliance troops on her tail," Vermilion continued. "But she got spooked and took off, and I'm following her now. The Devil's Swords mobilized to take her down, and I have no doubt that they'll be back for another go. I'm waiting here to ambush them when they do—assuming everything works out right." He paused. "And there are...other complications as well."

"Other complications?" Meyrin echoed. "Like what?"

"It's a Newtype affair," Vermilion said shortly. "I'll report back soon."

He threw the switch and ended the transmission, peering towards the horizon. The fear was out there again, a tiny puff of emotion on the horizon...but it was getting bigger.

_Well, this time we'll see if you're still inclined to run away..._

—

**February 24th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Heaven's Base, Iceland**

The phones were ringing off the hook, to use a certain anachronistic cliché, Ivan Danilov mused. The bridge of the _Charlemagne_ was throbbing with activity as the crew readied the ship for launch at breakneck speed. Its first assignment would be to track down that missing Windam—the data it had inside was far too valuable to be lost. But that would not be a long assignment, and once that was complete, it could get back to its original mission.

At the moment, however, reports were streaming in about the Windam with a very unfortunate little girl inside. He peered up at the _Charlemagne_'s main screen, as a sprawling map displayed a general curve that led away from Heaven's Base and pointed somewhere towards Ireland. But if she really was foolish enough to continue on that course, she would walk right into the jaws of Dublin Air Base.

Of course, Danilov mused, she _did_ appear to have a guardian angel.

The other report was troubling, to say the least. Captain Bayan's 457th Rapid Response Team of the Phantom Pain, better known and feared as the Devil's Sword Team, had taken off in pursuit, and no less than the Destiny Gundam itself stepped in to defend the stolen Windam. Within seconds, it had disabled the Blu Duel and Verde Buster, and forced the Devil's Saber himself, Sven Cal Bayan, to retreat. Whoever that girl in the Windam was, she was very, very lucky.

Which made Danilov wonder why a satellite pass over the North Atlantic had shown the Windam in question traveling alone.

Were the Destiny and the girl that was in this stolen Windam on the same side? If so, what did they have to gain by traveling alone? Only an idiot would take on the Destiny Gundam without the support of many, many allies—and there was a reason why the Earth Alliance was running low on idiots.

Danilov sat back in his chair, rubbing his chin in thought. He glanced to the side as Vera approached.

"Sir," she said, "Captain Bayan reports that he's aboard the _Mindanao_ and he's planning a second attack on that Windam."

"So he's still on the trail," Danilov concluded. "Then I'll leave the pursuit to him. It's only a domestic servant—if they can avoid the Destiny, it should not be difficult."

"Yes sir," Vera answered. She glanced out at the port. "The _Charlemagne_ will be ready for launch soon, as well."

Danilov put one leg over another and smiled thinly. "It'll be good to set sail again," he said. "We've been cooped up in dock too long, and I want to see what this ship can do."

—

**North Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Ireland**

The Windam jolted as it changed course. Inside the cockpit, Emily cringed—she still had not gotten used to piloting this thing. Making it move and shoot was fairly intuitive—for a reason she still could not figure out—but making the ride smooth and using all of the features in the cockpit was not so clear. And the manual had been a huge and mystifying tome whose sheer weight was enough to scare her away and rely on intuition and luck to figure out the Windam's functions.

She looked fearfully at the sky, as it slowly turned from dark to light blue. The sun was coming up ahead—she absently wondered how long she had been flying. And inevitably, she wondered where the Phantom Pain was. Surely they would not let her go with that disk in her pocket that felt like lead. But they had not attacked or even appeared, as far as she knew, since the imposing specter of the Destiny Gundam had defeated them. What were they up to?

Panic rose in her at the unknown. Where were the soldiers that would kill her? Would they drag her to the ground and tear her from her stolen steed? Would they burn her alive in the cockpit? She looked around urgently, but saw only the inky depths of the sea, and up ahead, a mass of land that she numbly guessed was Ireland. Somewhere on that island was Dublin Air Base, and they would surely notice her approach. If there was a way for the Windam to mask itself from sensors and radar, she knew nothing of it—and that led only to more fear.

Tears in her eyes were the next step as she realized that she had nowhere to go. She squeezed her eyes shut, cursing herself for not raising a fuss and, at the very least, forcing Hakim to kill her.

But would he have? He had told her that she was somehow important, to somebody—but what? Why? Who was interested in her? The Phantom Pain, obviously—but who else? The pilot of the Destiny Gundam had fortuitously appeared to save her life—was it him?

Her blood went cold at the thought of making a foe of the man with the wings of light. He had many enemies, but not so many of those enemies were still alive.

She struggled to listen to the survival instinct and found the booster, speeding up and heading for the Aran Islands.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried **_**-class carrier plane **_**Mindanao**_**, North Atlantic Ocean**

"Captain," Williams protested as Sven climbed into the Strike Noir, "I still think we should at least ask Dublin for support. The Destiny is out there. Even a pilot like you can't beat that thing without an army or two behind you." He fidgeted nervously as Sven fastened his restraints and donned his helmet. "Dublin could scramble a wing of Skygraspers—"

"All I need to do is destroy that Windam," Sven said. "It would be too much effort to capture it if the Destiny intervenes again, but it won't be so much effort if we destroy it." He closed his visor. "Your participation is appreciated and protests noted, Captain. Now please step aside—I am going to launch."

Captain Williams resignedly saluted and scurried down the gantry before it was retracted. Sven cracked his knuckles and eased the Strike Noir forward. He glanced over his shoulder; a pair of Windams sporting Integrated Weapons Striker packs and a single Windam with a Lightning Striker pack stared back at him.

"Hernandez," Sven began. "Find a suitable position to use the Lightning Striker's electromag cannon and support us from afar. Johnson and Petrov, you will take out the stolen Windam."

"Yes sir," Johnson answered from his IWSP Windam, "but what about you?"

Sven narrowed his eyes. "The Destiny Gundam is in the area." All three men gasped in horror. "I will handle him. All we need to do is destroy the Windam; we do not have sufficient forces to engage the Destiny." The Strike Noir stomped forward as the hangar door yawned open. "Commence operation!"

—

**Inishmore, Aran Islands, Ireland**

The sensors beeped insistently as the radar screen flickered to life. Emily was intuitive enough to understand a radar screen, and felt herself go numb with fear as she saw four dots rapidly approaching the center of the screen. She desperately searched the skies—they were coming from the northwest.

Inside the Strike Noir, Sven frowned at the Jet Windam as it dipped down towards the ground and landed with a crash, stumbling forward with unsure footing. The pilot still did not appear to know what she was doing—but there was no sign of the Destiny Gundam either, and that was troubling.

"Hernandez, set up for long-range support," Sven instructed. "Johnson, Petrov, begin your attack."

The three Windams arced off to carry out their orders, while Sven cut the thrusters and landed on the shore, watching impassively. Johnson and Petrov's Windams came down with a crash and advanced towards Emily's grounded Windam.

Emily's eyes flashed in horror as she saw two Windams, armed with huge backpacks and terrifying weapons, stomping towards her with murder in their soulless visors. She tried to push the Windam into a run, but the IWSP Windams opened fire with their beam rifles—only survival instinct compelled her to slam on the brakes, stopping the Windam from walking into a fiery death. She wheeled the Windam around and put the shield between herself and the enemies, just as they fired again and pounded shots against the shield.

"I can't do this!" she screamed. "I'm not a pilot!"

Johnson glanced over at Petrov's Windam. "She's just supposed to be a maid or something," he said. "This'll be like a fish in a bucket."

Petrov's Windam holstered its rifle and drew an anti-ship sword. "Then let's get this over with," he said. "Before the Wings of Light show up."

The Windams took off, moving to flank Emily's Windam from both sides. She screamed in fear and yanked back on the controls, sending her Windam backpedaling as Johnson's Windam opened fire again. Emily wheeled her Windam around to face it, leveling off the beam rifle and firing back.

The shot went sailing wide, but a flash of energy and a tiny voice of warning shot up her spine, and she turned to face Petrov's Windam, firing as it charged in close, sword upraised.

Petrov jerked his Windam to the left, abandoning his attack. "She's just getting lucky!" he snapped. "Distract her!"

Johnson's Windam charged, drawing the beam boomerang from its shield. "Now!" He sent the weapon hurling forward, its beam blade igniting with a flash.

Emily shrieked in fear and threw her Windam forward, barely pulling the Windam's body out of the path of Johnson's boomerang. She raised the beam rifle to fire, and poured beam shots after it, knocking it out of the air.

The Windam shuddered and staggered forward, thrown towards the ground by a thundering blast, and Emily looked back, finding the Windam's Jet Striker pack gone and Petrov's IWSP Windam standing triumphantly with sword raised. It advanced forward for a killing blow.

"No!" Emily screamed—she backed away and fired back with the Windam's beam rifle, forcing Petrov to back away behind his shield. Fumbling for weapons, she launched both of her Windam's shield-mounted missiles, sending them slamming into the ground near Petrov's Windam.

"Oh, for Christ's sake!" Johnson complained. "Hernandez, are you ready yet?"

Johnson was answered by a blazing shot from a ridge behind Emily's Windam. It sliced through her Windam's right leg, blowing it apart. Johnson grinned and opened fire with his Gatling gun, blowing off the Windam's right arm and ripping its armor apart. Emily screamed as her dismembered mobile suit slammed to the ground, and Johnson leveled off his Gatling—

The next thing anyone knew, a beam blast came slicing out of the heavens and severed the victorious Windam's left arm. Johnson's Windam staggered back, scanning the sky for its attacker—

"Good God!" Petrov screamed. "_The Wings of Light!_"

The Destiny Gundam charged.

"Leave him to me!" Sven barked. The Strike Noir lunged into the air from the beach, swords drawn, blasting up towards the Destiny. The dreaded Gundam activated its beam wings with a flash and somersaulted over the Strike Noir's head in a blur of afterimages. The Noir whirled around, only to be met with a devastating roundhouse kick to the face that sent it spiraling towards the ground.

The Destiny turned, its wings shimmering in the early morning light, as the Windams opened fire with their guns. The shots slammed uselessly against the Destiny's Phase Shift—the Gundam snapped its beam rifle into position and opened fire, forcing the Windams on the defensive.

"Jesus Christ!" Johnson screamed, as a beam nearly took off his Windam's left leg. "Hernandez, do something!"

"I can't get a bead on him!" Hernandez shot back. "The wings—"

"_Just shoot him!_" Petrov roared.

The two IWSP Windams opened fire again—the Destiny darted aside from their shots, letting them pass harmlessly through afterimages, lunging towards the ground. Johnson's Windam charged, thrusting its sword forward—

The Destiny Gundam held up its hand, flashing with light, stopping the sword cold—and with a hideous shriek of twisted metal, the Destiny drew its massive anti-ship sword and slammed it through the Windam's cockpit.

Yanking the sword out of the cockpit and turning as the Windam died its fiery death, it flashed its eyes at the remaining Windams.

"He took out Johnson!" Petrov shouted.

More beam shots sliced through the battlefield—the Destiny ducked aside as the Strike Noir sprayed the battlefield with beam pistol fire. Petrov opened fire as well, showering the Destiny with cannon fire and skirting to the side to flank the winged Gundam, while Hernandez squeezed off a shot that streaked by the Destiny's head.

"Petrov, close in! I'll distract him!" Sven barked. The Noir fired its pistols again, while Petrov drew a sword and charged at the Destiny's exposed back—

The Destiny dug its right foot under the severed arm of Johnson's Windam, propelling its Gatling shield into the air and over its head. The shield landed with a crash in the Destiny's left hand, and an instant later, it whirled around and opened fire at point-blank range into the charging Windam's cockpit, where Petrov died with a wordless scream and a spray of blood.

The dead Windam slumped to the ground, riddled with bullet holes, where it too exploded, and the Destiny tossed the shield to the ground. Another shell from the Lightning Windam came streaking in as Sven opened fire again—the Destiny vaulted into the air, activating its long cannon and firing a blast that ripped down through the air, plowing through the Lightning Windam's cockpit and ending that threat with a thunderous explosion. The Destiny raised its anti-ship sword and charged towards the Strike Noir.

"Dammit!" Sven snarled. "He tore them apart too!" The Noir drew both of its swords and put them in a cross to deflect the Destiny's powerful overhead hack. The force of the blow nearly forced the Noir to its knees, but Sven backed away and leapt into the air, over the Destiny's head. The Destiny whirled around, sword raised, and swung it horizontally to slam into the Noir's left-hand sword, nearly knocking it from the Noir's grasp.

Sven backed away, but the Destiny followed. The Noir cut its thrusters, lunging into the Destiny's face with swords upraised—the Destiny thrust its own sword forward to parry Sven's blow, and with a harrowing crash, smashed its shoulder into the Noir's face to throw it back. It kept coming with another devastating sword blow that Sven barely blocked with his right-hand sword, and then another follow-up blow that once again almost knocked away his left-hand sword.

"He has the advantage now!" Sven growled. "I can't take him one on one!"

The Destiny came down with another punishing sword blow, but Sven fired the thrusters again, lunging into the air and arcing away over the beach.

The Destiny landed slowly, watching the Noir retreat again, and deactivated its sword. It stomped over to Emily's crippled Windam.

Inside, Emily von Oldendorf was huddled in the cockpit seat, clutching her shoulders in terror as she saw through a hole in the cockpit hatch the cold eyes of the Destiny Gundam. The one still-functional cockpit screen barely flickered to life, and the eerie red eyes of Vermilion appeared again.

"We meet again," he said. "That's the second time I've saved you. I hope it's clear that I mean you no harm."

"Y-you're with the Resistance," Emily managed.

Vermilion risked a smile. "You could say that," he said. The Destiny came to a stop at the foot of Emily's ruined Windam. "But I'm not what's important. I'm going to offer you, instead, a chance to join us, in the Resistance."

Emily's blood froze. "I can't do that!" she wailed. "They'll kill me!"

Vermilion arched an eyebrow. "What were they trying to do just now?" he asked. "However you got swept up in all this, the Alliance isn't going to have much mercy on you if they catch you. And if you're running through the world on your own, without any friends to rely on, you're going to get caught. At least with us, you'll have strength in numbers."

Emily said nothing, staring fearfully into the thin young face, scarred three times over and with eyes partially hidden by sunglasses. She felt another jolt of energy rush up her spine.

"I don't want..." she began. "...I'm afraid to be...associated with you..."

Vermilion smiled sadly. "You don't have to fear me for that," he said. The Destiny extended its hand.

Emily stared down at the outstretched appendage for a moment, before she climbed out of the Windam and into the Destiny's hand.

The Destiny lifted her from the broken armor of her wrecked Windam to the Destiny's cockpit. The hatch swung open.

Emily looked down apprehensively at the offered hand of Shinn Asuka.

"To some people, I'm a traitor," he said, "but to you, I'm a friend."

Emily looked back into his crimson eyes, as the light of the rising sun played across them and illuminated the scars of a lifetime's experiences in them. Once again, the energy went up her spine, and a thousand voices in the back of her mind cried out in protest as she took his hand and stepped into the Destiny's cockpit.

The hatch swung shut behind her, and a moment later, the Destiny Gundam took off with a flash of exhaust.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried **_**-class carrier plane **_**Mindanao**_**, North Atlantic Ocean**

"Disgraceful," Sven grunted to himself, as the Strike Noir cruised towards the _Mindanao_, "but I would suppose this confirms that the girl and the Destiny are working together."

He glanced up ahead, finding the _Mindanao_ cruising towards him with its hangar ponderously swinging open. He keyed in the ship's frequency, and was greeted by Williams' annoyed face.

"I see it didn't go well," he intoned.

Sven expertly held his venom in check. "I have three Slaughter Windams on their way here from Heaven's Base," he answered. "I will resupply here and sortie again to confront the Destiny."

Williams blinked. "Are you nuts, captain?" he asked. "That's the Destiny Gundam. It's got _Shinn Asuka_ in it. Shouldn't we get more reinforcements?"

Sven cast an annoyed glance at Williams as he eased the Strike Noir onto its landing approach. "You insisted that we not face the Destiny with anything than less than an army's firepower," he said. "We do not have time to assemble an army. Three Slaughter Windams and the Noir will have to suffice. I am going to resupply aboard the _Mindanao_ and immediately take off once the Windams arrive. Be ready to receive me."

He cut the transmission before Williams could say anything snide and scowled. Five mobile suits that Destiny had taken down...and it wasn't even twenty-four hours yet.

—

**North Atlantic Ocean**

Shinn gazed down at the disk in his hand for a moment. Hakim had died to get him this disk, and this girl. He looked back at the jump seat, where Emily von Oldendorf was huddled, her arms around her knees, still shaking with fear. But the fear was beginning to subside as she looked around the Destiny's cockpit, feeling safer within its Phase Shift armor.

"This data," Shinn said quietly, "is about an attack on the Resistance's stronghold in Carpentaria. So it's very important that we get this to the leaders of the Resistance." He glanced back at Emily again. "Do you know anything about the Phantom Pain?"

Emily shook her head haltingly. "I-I was a domestic servant in the living quarters," she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut at the thought of her days there. Shinn nodded gravely, looking back to the Destiny's forward screen.

"That's not surprising," he said. "The Phantom Pain is very secretive." He reached for a switch somewhere on the console that Emily could not see. "At any rate, I guess an introduction is in order."

The screen next to Emily flickered to life, and she found herself face to face with a red-haired girl leaning on a console, with a supremely bored look on her face. She arched an eyebrow as she cast her blue eyes towards the shivering girl in the Destiny's jump seat.

"Roxy," Shinn said, "get me Meyrin."

"Uh, okay," Roxy answered, pointing, "but who's that?" A devious smile crossed her lips. "You're not bringing a _girl_ home, are you? You slick son of a bitch! Where did you—"

"No," Shinn cut her off, glancing back pointedly at Emily as she tried to hide the spreading blush on her face. "Roxy, meet Emily von Oldendorf. Our newest recruit, as it were."

Roxy regarded Emily for a moment. "She looks utterly terrified."

"Yeah, well, getting chased by the Phantom Pain will do that to you. Where's Meyrin?"

Abruptly, another girl in a blue bridge coat emerged, putting on a peaked white cap over her magenta-haired head. "Is this the girl you were talking about earlier?" she asked.

"This is Emily von Oldendorf," Shinn repeated, gesturing to her over his shoulder. "Hakim sent her off with our prize, which I've got in my pocket right now. She'll be our latest recruit."

"I see," Meyrin answered. "Welcome to the Resistance, Miss Oldendorf." She looked back at Shinn. "Where are you?"

Shinn paused to consult his map. "North Atlantic, passing Saint George's Channel. We may have to change our rendezvous point—I doubt the Devil's Swords will let me get away that easily." He glanced at the map again. "And we're awfully close to Dublin. Weird that they haven't sent anything. But I shouldn't be too far out now."

"Okay," Meyrin responded. "We're cutting the transmission, then, before anyone intercepts. Good luck."

The screen went dark, and Shinn sat back with a thin smile. "She's getting more like a captain every day," he chuckled.

"The _Minerva_...?" Emily asked. "Is that where we're going?"

"It's where we're trying to go," Shinn replied. "Although your Phantom Pain friends might have something to say about that." He settled back into the cockpit chair. "Either way, it'll be a few more hours before we rendezvous, and somehow I doubt you've slept much. So you might want to try doing that. I'll wake you up if anything happens."

"Alright," Emily murmured, curling up and turning away in the jump seat.

Shinn watched her reflection in the cockpit monitor as she drifted off to sleep. The pressure was there again in her mind, coming from her, the tiny voice that warned him of power below this meek exterior.

_Is she even stronger than me...?_ he wondered.

He glanced over his other shoulder, at the horizon that the Destiny was leaving behind, at the green sea under the sickly cover of a storm that dropped biting rain on the Destiny as it sailed forward.

_Well,_ he told himself, _I'll get her back to the _Minerva_...and we'll find out._

—

Hernandez, Johnson, and Petrov had been only Earth Alliance Air Force pilots, without the extra training and discipline of the Phantom Pain, Sven told himself as he eased the Strike Noir into formation with the three Slaughter Windams. These men were the cream of the Earth Alliance's crop—surely they would be able to at least scratch the Destiny.

The four mobile suits formed up as they cruised in low over the choppy seas. Wilcox, Rosenthal, and Everett would have to do better, at any rate, because Shinn Asuka was no normal opponent.

"The Destiny has probably gotten a hold of the data in question," Sven said. "It may have the girl who stole the Windam as well. Regardless, we must stop them both before they can relay their stolen data to the Resistance." He glanced over the three Slaughter Windams. "It took out the other members of my team, and destroyed three EAAF Windams as well. So I expect you all to be on your toes."

"Yes sir!" the pilots chorused.

Sven narrowed his eyes up ahead. The Wings of Light were somewhere out there, but he would not be shamed a third time.

—

Emily awoke fearfully to the insistent voice of the traitor Asuka. She looked around in surprise—the storm was even stronger now, and Shinn looked tense, ready for battle.

Feeling the panic once again returning, she looked at the Destiny's displays, and sure enough, there were four mobile suits approaching from the west. She cast a frightened look at Shinn.

"Wha—are you going to fight them?" she exclaimed.

"Of course I am," he answered. "Why wouldn't I? Now hold on tight. I'm expecting some minor turbulence."

The Destiny whirled around, cutting its thrusters, eyes flashing, waiting in the driving rain for its charging attackers. Up ahead, inside the Noir, Sven frowned.

"Fan out and attack from all sides," he ordered. "Newtype he may be, but he can't be in four places at once."

Inside the Destiny, Shinn smirked as he watched the Windams split up, two of them aiming to flank him and the other talking off overhead. "Are the Phantom Pain's pilots as good as they say they are...?"

The Destiny ducked towards the sea as the Windams opened fire, and squeezed off a shot at the uppermost Windam. Inside, Wilcox let out a curse and took the shot to the Windam's shield, driving him back. Everett's Windam swept in from the side, while Sven opened fire with his beam pistols. The Destiny ducked between the shots and fired back at Everett and Sven, forcing them back. Rosenthal attacked next, but the Destiny effortlessly ducked past him.

"I'll close in! Cover me!" Sven ordered—the Strike Noir drew its swords and charged towards the Destiny.

The Windams spread out again, firing with their beam rifles as the Destiny expertly dodged their shots and drew its anti-ship sword. Shinn brought the sword up to block the Noir's twin sword strikes, knocking it back.

"There's so many!" Emily wailed.

"This is nothing!" Shinn answered.

The Windams swept around to fire again, but Shinn ducked under their shots and thrust his sword up, nearly catching the Noir in the chest. Sven swung back with his right-hand sword, but Shinn thrust his own sword into the way, knocking Sven's blade wide, and with a crash Shinn delivered a punishing kick to the Noir's stomach.

"Dammit!" Sven growled. "_Mindanao_, close in and launch your remaining machines! We'll overwhelm him!"

"But captain, that's the Destiny—" Williams began.

"_Do it!_" Sven roared.

Shinn frowned as he felt a twinge of rage from the Noir, and the faint tint of anxiousness from over the horizon. Reinforcements were on their way, he guessed.

"Looks like they're calling for backup," Shinn muttered, glancing over at Emily. "I'd say it's about time we finished up this little game. Hang on!"

"Everett, move in behind him!" Sven shouted. Everett's Windam looped around the Destiny, leveling off its beam rifle—

"No you won't!" Shinn screamed.

The Destiny activated its beam wings with a flash, slicing Everett's Windam in two and sending both halves to a fiery death in the ocean.

"The Wings of Light!" Rosenthal cried. "Captain—"

"_Take him down!_" Sven snapped. The Windams opened fire, but the Destiny fouled their blasts with a flurry of afterimages, taking off over their heads. The Windams drew their beam sabers, charging in close, but Shinn knocked them both away with a winnowing horizontal swipe from his anti-ship sword. Sven charged in from behind, but the Destiny whirled around to block his overhead slash, and then parry a second strike from his left-hand sword. The Windams closed in—Shinn sent them clawing for distance with his beam wings.

"Flank him again!" Sven shouted. "He can't use the wings that way!"

The Windams took off around the Destiny, while Sven surged forward, swords upraised. Shinn scowled as a white bolt of energy ripped through the air, seeing his opening—

With a crash, the Destiny kicked the Noir square in the torso, sending it tumbling down into the water. An instant later, the Destiny whirled around, slamming its sword through the waist of Wilcox's Windam and sending him to a wordless, screaming death. And as it followed through on its swing, Rosenthal's Windam swept in, beam saber drawn—Shinn brought his sword down onto the saber with full force, smashing through the arm and ripping the Windam in two.

As Rosenthal's Windam exploded, Sven took off, glaring over his shoulder at the shimmering wings of the Destiny Gundam.

Shinn deactivated his sword and glanced at Emily. "See?" he said. "Piece of cake."

Emily said nothing, staring at the pillars of smoke left behind as the Destiny rocketed away.

—

To be continued...


	3. Phase 03: The Man With the Key

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 03 - The Man With the Key

—

**February 25th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Heaven's Base, Iceland**

"This is Docking Control," the operator's voice came through on the speakers. "All units clear. _Charlemagne_ is free to launch."

Sitting back on the bridge of his titanic warship, Ivan Danilov suppressed a smile. "Acknowledged. _Charlemagne_, move out, engines at fifteen percent!"

The sprawling warship shuddered as it disconnected itself from its fuel tubes and attachments in the dry-dock. The _Charlemagne_ slowly pulled up into the air, multiple levitators activating to push the vessel towards the sky. Danilov watched the world slowly descend as his ship lifted off.

"Captain, we've reached five hundred meters," Vera reported, from her station beside the captain's chair. "Ready to launch."

"The Resistance probably has the stolen data by now," Danilov said. "Our orders are to track down the Resistance unit that intercepted the data and destroy it." He glanced towards Vera. "Our ship and crew the finest the Phantom Pain has to offer. Engines to maximum, set course for Bretagne!"

—

The Dark Windam locked into place with a crash, filling the hangar with a bone-jarring echo.

"Jeez," someone muttered, "take it easy, will ya? These things are fragile."

Standing on the gantry at the controls for the _Charlemagne_'s mobile suit hangar crane, seventeen-year-old Grey Saiba cast a sheepish grin at the mechanic in question.

"Sorry," he answered, brushing chestnut hair from his blue eyes, "but it's my first deployment. Excited and all."

"Yeah, well, treat your MS like that and you ain't gonna have a second," the mechanic answered, trudging off down the gantry. Grey shrugged and glanced across at the second mobile suit brace next to his. The second Windam's cockpit hatch opened, and the shock of blonde hair and sparkling green eyes signaled the emergence of seventeen-year-old Merau Seraux, rubbing the side of her head in annoyance.

"I see you're done," she grunted. "Not so loud next time, eh?" She straightened the cuffs of her jet black Phantom Pain uniform. "The hangar officer might come down and yell at us."

"Ah, hell with that," Grey laughed. "First deployment, Merau! Are you not pumped for this? All those months of putting up with those jackasses at Volkov Crater will finally pay off, starting now!"

Merau regarded him with a skeptical glance as she headed down the gantry, Grey in tow. "Eh, a deployment's a deployment," she said. "We have a job to do, and we're going to do it. That's how I'm looking at it." A thin smile crossed her lips. "And your lousy experience at Volkov had as much to do with you as it did your instructors."

"I swear, they were trying to bring me down!" Grey insisted. "I did _not_ rate that badly on the Chemical Warfare exam! And my pilot aptitude tests were _great!_"

Merau smiled knowingly as she took a right, angling for the officer's mess. "Well, actual mobile suit combat is a lot different from a simulated paintball match with some out-of-practice instructor. Remember when they flew in Captain Chevalier for that surprise training match? He kicked your ass so hard I hear they're _still_ finding pieces of it on the proving ground."

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that anymore," Grey complained.

"Besides," Merau went on, "just because we're Phantom Pain officers doesn't mean that we're invincible. We're going after the _Minerva_, after all—and that ship has the Destiny on it. I don't know about you, but those clips we saw in Combat Operations were pretty scary."

"They can't be that lucky _all_ the time," Grey insisted. "You'll see. We'll take 'em down."

Merau allowed herself only another knowing smile. "Yeah," she said, "we'll see."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried**_**-class carrier plane **_**Mindanao**_**, North Atlantic Ocean**

"Six mobile suits in one day!" Shams Coza cackled as he strode down the halls of the _Mindanao_ behind Sven. "Man, I don't have to feel so bad now, eh?"

Sven ignored Shams with expert ease. "I expect you to be with us on our next sortie," he said, partly speaking more to Mudie than Shams, "and next time, we'll need to work out a plan to fight the Destiny. Going head-to-head against it is suicide."

"If you say so," Mudie sighed.

"If you don't get us killed first," Shams chuckled.

The bridge doors opened with a hiss of pressurized air, and Williams greeted Sven with a curt salute.

"Captain," Sven said, returning Williams' salute, "I hear we're coming up on the new warship, the _Charlemagne_."

"We are, sir," Williams said, gesturing out the main window. "In a minute or two, we should make visual contact with her. In the meantime, Captain Danilov has sent you a transmission."

Sven stepped forward, glancing at the communications officer. A moment later, the chiseled face of Ivan Danilov dominated the _Mindanao_'s main monitor.

"Captain Danilov," Sven greeted, providing his own salute. "Congratulations on your vessel's maiden voyage."

"We've got quite the prey," Danilov answered with his own salute. "Captain Williams here informs me that you've been on the scent of the Wings of Light."

"Until recently," Sven said, with only a hint of bitterness. "The Destiny has forced my withdrawal three times now."

"Unfortunate," Danilov intoned with an arched eyebrow. "I'll assume Providence is trying to tell us not to be too hasty to pick a fight with the traitor Asuka. I advise patience, Captain Bayan. We have units out searching for the _Minerva_ right now. As long as we can keep the Destiny and the _Minerva_ separated, he cannot last forever."

"The Destiny is likely carrying sensitive data that was in that stolen Windam," Sven added. "The Windam was disabled on the Inishmore island, but search teams found no body, nor any sign of the stolen data. We must conclude that the Destiny has possession of both."

Danilov sat back, one leg draped over the other. "We may," he agreed. "I'm following the trail you radioed back to Heaven's Base when you returned from your third sortie against the Destiny. It looks like it's heading for the Bretagne region of France."

"The Black Wolf unit is known to operate there," Sven pointed out. "The Destiny may be seeking shelter with them."

"Another prolific prize." Danilov threw a switch on his end. "The 21st Atlantic Patrol Group is near Bretagne," he said. "I'll send word to its commander that the catch of a lifetime is walking into his arms."

—

**North Atlantic Ocean**

Emily was still asleep. That was just as well—as long as she was sleeping, whatever emotions Shinn could detect roiling beneath her meek exterior were subdued, and the more subdued her emotions, the less intense his own response would be.

Shinn instead settled back into the Destiny's cockpit chair, considering the pressure he still felt from her. That was the one thing that sleep did not subdue—Emily's pressure was as strong as ever, twisting and pulsing in the back of his brain. She had power—enormous power, power that could change the world.

But he considered the vessel in which that power resided. She was afraid; she was no soldier, and could barely keep the stolen Windam she had never wanted to be anywhere near on its feet. Even now, the faint traces of fear still clung to her presence. He thought back, with no shortage of bitterness and pain, to his own youth, to the days before he knew he had the powers he now used to scare faith in God into—or out of—the soldiers of the Earth Alliance.

It was an agony all its own to relive the pain in the brutal lens of memory. He could see, now, a panorama of skirmishes in space and on Earth, as he wielded the Impulse Gundam against the foes of ZAFT, launching from that same ship, the _Minerva_, a lifetime ago. He saw the future—or, more correctly, he saw the future as envisioned by Chairman Gilbert Dullindal.

The sparkling violet eyes of a certain timid blonde girl drew him away from the halcyon days of there still being a ZAFT, when the _Minerva_ was the symbol of hope for those who called the PLANTs home, not for those who took up arms against Lord Djibril, no matter who they were. And the shimmering blue eyes of another girl drew his memory in a still different direction.

But that wound was even more painful. Shinn closed his eyes, reaching back in time to feel again the cool touch of Kika Rosemary as he sobbed out all his troubles into her shoulder—and shuddered as the accompanying memories returned of the night that her touch had turned electric, and she had surrendered everything she had, to give him one night where they could be one and he would not be alone.

And then, with a wrenching burst of grief and pain, it was gone.

His own screams on that agonizing day three years ago still echoed in his ears today as he peered back at Emily. Mayu, Kika, George, Lunamaria, Lacus, all of them, they had all died because he had not been powerful enough to protect them; because he had not used his powers as fully as he could. But Emily had power coursing in her veins, even if she was too terrified right now to use it. She had survived long enough to get her Windam away from Heaven's Base intact—against the Devil's Swords, no less. And she had survived an attack by three professional, trained mobile suit pilots on Inishmore. No, Emily had power and she somehow had figured out how to scratch its surface to protect herself. She had that same power that he used. And Shinn had no doubt that there were things that Emily von Oldendorf held dear to her heart.

And Shinn Asuka was going to help her protect them.

He keyed in the frequency for the _Minerva_—a risk, to be sure, but he was past caring. Let them find him. Few soldiers would be stupid enough to challenge the Wings of Light to a duel, and if there _were_ any soldiers that stupid out there, Shinn would tear them down where they stood.

"It's 0930, Roxy," Shinn said as Roxy stared at him blearily. "You have no excuse."

"I don't need one," Roxy shot back. "Don't you have anything better to do, like avoiding detection?"

"Well, grown men don't piss themselves when _you_ show up on the battlefield," Shinn replied. "I need Abes."

Roxy huffed indignantly. "Say 'please,'" she insisted.

Shinn arched an eyebrow. "Remember that one night in Amsterdam?" he asked instead.

For a moment, Roxy's face flashed red. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, you wouldn't," Shinn said with as wicked a grin as he could manage. "I mean, hell, it's not like you could even remember your _name_ after that fifth screwdriver. But I've heard all kinds of stories about the stuff you did that night. Like this thing you did with your tongue—"

"Son of a bitch," Roxy grumbled, her face turning red. She threw a switch and raised the intercom somewhere near her mouth, glowering with disdain at Shinn. "Chief Mechanic Abes, the Antichrist is waiting for you on line one."

Shinn sighed and reminded himself to think of some retaliatory nicknames for Roxy. The lined and drawn face of the _Minerva_'s chief mechanic, Matt Abes, appeared a moment later, with Meyrin nearby, clipboard in hand. She seemed to be everywhere—but she had to at least look like the captain.

"The Antichrist?" Abes asked skeptically. "To what do I owe the honor of addressing the Prince of Lies?"

"How many sets of spare parts do we have for the Destiny?" Shinn asked.

Abes glanced over his shoulder, towards the corner of the hangar where a dozen mobile suits were kept disassembled and in crates. "We could build one more unit in addition to the one you're piloting now," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

Shinn steeled himself. "I want you to build a second Destiny unit out of those spare parts."

Abes blinked in surprise, as did Meyrin. "What?" Meyrin asked. "Why?"

This would be the hard part, Shinn told himself. "It's for Emily," he said. "I have a feeling it'll be useful."

"We won't have many spare parts left for either unit," Abes warned. "We've got duplicates of some parts that commonly need to be replaced, but if you break something like the beam wing system, we won't be able to fix it until we resupply. And if you're thinking of giving this second Destiny unit to an amateur, we'll probably need all the spare parts we can get."

"We can ask the Junk Guild to build more," Shinn said. "Lowe Gear has never let us down before. And until then, I'll just have to be extra careful, won't I?"

"Shinn, what is so special about this girl?" Meyrin protested. "Letting her onto the ship is one thing, but eating up our spare parts building a Destiny unit for her is entirely another."

Shinn's face betrayed experience no man his age should have, silencing any further protests Abes and Meyrin could have registered. "I spent the Junius War struggling to learn the nature of my powers as a Newtype," he explained. "At the same time, I tried to use those powers to protect those I cared about. I couldn't do both, and I paid the price for my failure. It's a price no one should have to pay." He glanced back at Emily, still sound asleep in the jump seat. "Emily has that power. Even stronger than mine, maybe. It's why she's still alive. Those powers will begin to manifest, if they haven't already. And she's going to suffer. And she's going to want to learn what those powers are—and she'll want to use them to protect what is important to her." He looked back at the screen. "If I leave her on her own, the Alliance will find her, and someone will notice those powers, and she'll wind up no better than an Extended. I can't let someone else end up like Stella. And I can't let someone else go through what I went through—not if I can do something about it."

He said nothing more, watching Meyrin and Abes carefully. Meyrin let out a sigh.

"And this second Destiny unit," she concluded, "is the power that you want to give her, to do all that?"

"Exactly," Shinn answered.

Abes scratched his head awkwardly. "It will take a couple of days to assemble it all," he said, "and we'll need to specify the name and Phase Shift coloration to differentiate your unit from hers."

"That's fine," Shinn said. "We'll deal with that when I get back. Just get that Destiny unit built—and I'll see you soon."

He cut the transmission, closing his eyes and reaching out with the sense he still feared he did not fully understand. There were people out there—but he could feel the tiny tinge of fear of the Destiny Gundam. They felt like soldiers.

Consulting his sensors, he found a trio of Earth Alliance warships in the water near Bretagne. They would be an unfortunate obstacle.

He glanced back at Emily again. Well, at least this time she would see what a Newtype could truly do.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Spengler**_**-class aircraft carrier **_**Mikhail Gorbachev**_**, English Channel**

"Arkady," the man on the screen said, "it's imperative that you get your squadron into intercept range of the Destiny."

Standing on the bridge of the _Mikhail Gorbachev_, the thin mustachioed man named Arkady, wearing his blue Earth Alliance Navy uniform, crossed his arms, looking back skeptically at Captain Danilov. "Captain," he said, "in CE 74, I commanded a _Spengler_-class at Antarctica. I watched Shinn Asuka tear down our Destroy Gundam like a paper doll. I am not very eager to attack him again without significant reinforcements. He has destroyed patrol groups like mine in the past, with minimal effort."

"I understand," Danilov answered, "but if we all cower in fear before the Wings of Light simply because he has the scalps of many of our comrades, God only knows what will become of our world. All you need to do is hold him off. There are two Phantom Pain units coming in from behind him, and together, we can all crush him."

Arkady sniffed contemptuously. "Is this an order from the Phantom Pain?"

Danilov smiled back thinly. "I try not to give too many of those," he said. "I commanded a ship at Solomon's Sword, and watched him destroy a whole wing of Exus mobile armors. Captain Bayan has faced him three times already and lived to tell about it. We know what we're up against."

"Then I will commence my attack once the Destiny enters my range," Arkady answered, with a touch of resignation. "But my forces are insufficient to hold him off for long."

Danilov smiled again. "We'll be right behind you, commander."

—

**Off the coast of Bretagne, France**

The fear was back, this time taking the form of both anxiousness over the impending battle and uncertainty of skills. But Shinn had no fears—he had detected only a patrol group, and he had sent more than one of those to the bottom of the sea in his day.

He glanced back at Emily as she quivered in the jump seat. "You're scared," he observed. "What for?" He allowed himself a cheeky grin. "Don't you trust my abilities?"

"But they're sending ships," Emily protested. "Aren't they more dangerous?"

Shinn smiled bitterly at the memories of Kika complaining of his propensity for attacking warships with a beam saber. "I've handled ships before. Just hold on back there and this'll all be over with real quick."

The Destiny spiraled down towards the surface of the ocean, skimming in over the water towards the three ships clustered and waiting in the distance. They would no doubt be sending mobile suits, but the Phantom Pain was not known to operate standard blue-water patrol groups—so these troops would just be the regulars.

Shinn really did not want to give in to the temptations of ego, but if this was all they were sending after him, with all their past experiences to advise them otherwise, then he had to wonder what in the hell they were thinking. There had to be some other catch to this—perhaps a unit was coming in from behind to trap him.

"Hey," Emily spoke up, "what happened to the other guys? The ones who were chasing me?"

Shinn smiled thinly. "Four years I've been doing this and I've finally figured out tactics," he said. "They've tried this move on me before. They put one unit up in front as the sacrificial lamb for me to savage, and while I'm distracted, they move other troops in behind me to cut me off." He shook his head ruefully. "For their sake, I hope they're more creative this time, or it's not going to be pretty."

His smile faded as he sensed something else up ahead—a familiar presence and a pressure. But he could not identify it—and that troubled him.

But there was no point in worrying now—because right now, he had a patrol group to mutilate. And so, arming the beam rifle, he took off to do just that.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Spengler**_**-class aircraft carrier **_**Mikhail Gorbachev**_**, English Channel**

"Take the Jet Windams and keep him contained, Chang," Arkady's voice echoed through the Windam's cockpit. "The Doppelhorn Windams will support you from the ground, and I'm going to keep the ships back. The _Charlemagne_ and another unit will be arriving soon."

Inside the lead Jet Windam, the thin young ensign in charge of the _Gorbachev_'s mobile suit complement saluted sharply as the screen went dark. The carrier's thirty-six mobile suits were taking off—twelve Doppelhorn Windams made a long-range, rocket-assisted leap from the carrier's deck to the Bretagne coast, while the remaining twenty-four Jet Windams prepared to lift off under Chang's command. All of this was against one enemy unit...but that one enemy unit was capable of brutalizing a whole mobile suit battalion, thirty-six mobile suits and all, and walking away with only minor damage to its paintjob.

Needless to say, Chang was a little nervous.

"All we need to do is contain the enemy unit," he told his even more nervous men. "Phantom Pain units are on their way in to trap the Destiny from behind." He tried not to shiver as he spoke his foe's fearful name. "Until then, we will do our duty. Move out!"

The Windams lifted off with a roar, easing out of the _Gorbachev_'s cavernous hangar and into the air. Chang glanced around—the sea was still calm, bright and blue in the light of a clear and beautiful sky. It was a good day to die, he supposed—but that would not happen today. The Destiny Gundam would finally go down today.

"That's weird," one of the pilots mumbled. "Sensors aren't picking up anything. Neither is radar."

"We had positive intel that the Destiny is heading here," Chang insisted. "Keep your eyes open—"

He never saw the beam that killed him.

The Destiny Gundam rose like the devil from the depths of the ocean, sending water and Mirage Colloid particles flying, beam rifle still poised for the kill as the remaining Windams scattered. The Destiny picked off two more Windams before taking off for the coast, just as the wreckage of Chang's Windam hit the water.

"Jesus! He's so fast!" one of the pilots screamed.

"Get around him!"

"The afterimages—!"

Three more Windams went down in flames as the Destiny rocketed towards land along the surface of the water, its slick, wet armor shimmering in the sun and blinding the remaining pilots as they struggled to keep up. Inside the Destiny, Shinn Asuka allowed himself a thin smile as he somersaulted up onto the beach and whirled around, opening fire and picking off another Windam.

"There's Doppelhorns over here too," he grunted, backing away behind his beam shield as the Windams clumsily returned fire. "They're pulling out all the stops, I see."

The Destiny somersaulted into the air and took off again as the Doppelhorn Windams opened fire. Their first salvo streaked harmlessly by the Destiny, but that did not assuage Emily's fears as she watched the shells explode in the distance.

"Wait! What about those ones on the ground?" she asked—pausing only as the Destiny lurched, dodging another volley of beams from the Jet Windams as they finally arrived.

"We'll worry about those later," Shinn grunted. The Destiny ducked aside from another volley from the Doppelhorn Windams, diving backwards and picking another Jet Windam out of the sky. One of the Windams came charging towards him, beam saber drawn—Shinn rocketed into its face, planting a beam rifle shot into its torso as he passed by, turning as it exploded and drawing his sword.

An explosion flared up on the beach, as the Doppelhorn Windams scattered and one of their own went down. With a crash, two more Windams fell to their knees, their cockpits crushed, and another mobile suit spiraled into view. A flash of recognition shot up Shinn's spine—

A white GuAIZ stood tall in the sunlight, picking off a fourth Doppelhorn Windam with its beam rifle and deflecting the return fire with its shield. Shinn's eyes went wide in disbelief as he felt the same pressure again—

The Destiny's screen flickered to life—Emily blinked in surprise at the image of a blond-haired man in a mask, swathed in a black leather trench coat and sporting a sinister grin, appeared before her.

"Well!" the man said. "The mighty Shinn Asuka has finally arrived!"

Shinn's eyes flashed in fury. "_You!_"

"Oh, but I think introductions are in order," the man cackled. Shinn glanced over his shoulder, spiraling aside from another beam volley and shooting down two more Windams in the process as they flew by. "After all, I don't believe I've met that charming young lady you have crammed in the back of your cockpit."

"Who is this, Shinn?" Emily asked, pointing at the grinning man with the mask.

"He's the devil!" Shinn snapped.

"Oh, not quite," the man laughed. "Allow me to introduce myself, young lady. I am Rau Le Creuset."

The fury in Shinn's eyes stopped Emily from saying anything else. He whirled around and shot down yet another Windam as it tried to sneak up on him.

"Of all the people to die that day, _you_ cheated it?" Shinn snarled. Down below, three more Doppelhorn Windams fell to Rau's beam rifle as he somersaulted over their heads. "After all you did?"

"I wouldn't cast aspersions if I were you," Rau chuckled. "You have more important things to worry about."

Shinn snarled a curse, returning his attention to the Windams and blowing two more out of the air as they came streaking up behind him, sabers drawn. "Millions of people would still be alive if it weren't for you!" he shot back.

"The same could be said of you, traitor Asuka," Rau countered. "You need all the allies you can get right now!"

Shinn scowled again, whirling around to shoot down his thirteenth Windam.

"He's taken down over half the force!" one of the Windam pilots cried.

Aboard the _Gorbachev_, Arkady grimaced as the remains of the latest dead Windam hit the water. His men were being torn apart—but where was that damned Phantom Pain?

"Commander, we're not going to last much longer against him!" the _Gorbachev_'s captain protested. "We've got to pull out while there are still mobile suits to protect us!"

"Danilov _said_ they'd be arriving soon!" Arkady growled. "Where _is_ he!"

The Destiny smashed two more Windams out of the air with its anti-ship sword.

"All ships, pull back!" Arkady ordered. "Order the mobile suits to retreat!" Another explosion on the beach signaled the end of the eighth Doppelhorn Windam. "And that GuAIZ...what's going on here? Is this the Black Wolf?"

The Windams peeled off in desperation, pulling back behind their shields, but not before Shinn brought down three more with a rapid-fire beam rifle burst. He switched back to his sword, lunging down towards the surface of the water and charging straight towards the destroyer on the _Gorbachev_'s starboard side.

"Hang on," he told Emily. "This'll be rough."

"Everything you've been doing is rough," Emily mumbled.

The Destiny drew its sword back for a killing blow. The destroyer's guns boomed, but the Destiny skirted effortlessly around the shells and slammed its sword down into the ship's main gun, ripping through a missile magazine and blowing the bow of the ship to pieces. Even as it began to tilt forward into the water, Shinn crushed the bridge with his sword, and then whirled around to catch two more Windams with his long range cannon.

On the beach, Rau cackled maniacally as the GuAIZ backflipped over a charging Windam, stabbing down below with its beam claws and slicing the Windam in two. Even as that Windam died, he wheeled around to shoot down two more Windams.

The last one drew its beam saber and charged, holding the saber out in front of it in a suicide drive. Rau flashed a feral grin—the GuAIZ ducked down under the Windam's saber, running the Alliance machine through with its beam claw, and casually walked away as the dissected Windam exploded.

Shinn somersaulted off the sinking remains of the destroyer, cutting down another Windam with his beam wings. The final two Windams closed in together, beam rifles blazing. A flash of white energy crackled across the air—the Destiny charged forward, lengthening its beam wings, and sawed through both Windams at the waist.

"Commander, our mobile suits—!" the _Gorbachev_'s captain cried.

"I saw it! Retreat at maximum speed!" Arkady screamed.

A wave of beam blasts from the beach slammed into the second destroyer, ripping off its main gun and piercing its bridge. On the beach, Rau smirked as his GuAIZ's beam rifle surgically sliced the destroyer apart in the water, sidestepping desperate CIWS bursts and missile volleys.

Shinn charged down towards the _Gorbachev_ with a scream, slamming his sword through one of the side hangar bay hatches and tearing his way into the ship's mobile suit hangar. Down below, mechanics and guards fled in terror, but Shinn paid them no mind—instead, he activated the long range cannon and fired it into the ship's midsection, pulling the beam up through the bridge. Arkady vanished with a scream—the _Gorbachev_ shuddered as its reactor gave way, and fire began to consume the wounded warship.

With a blood-curdling shriek of torn metal, the Destiny wrenched itself out of the _Gorbachev_'s hangar and somersaulted onto the beach, watching impassively as the _Gorbachev_ finally exploded and sank.

Shinn's eyes flashed furiously—the Destiny whirled around, pointing its beam rifle straight at the GuAIZ's cockpit.

"Now then, Le Creuset," he said, "kindly explain to me how so many good people could die at Solomon's Sword, but _you could con your way back to life?_"

Rau grinned back. "I'm surprised, Shinn. Your life has been governed by cheap twists of fate. Why should it be so shocking that mine was merely preserved by one?"

"Don't give me that shit," Shinn snapped. "Athrun told me all about you. I know what you were doing in the Junius War, so give me a reason to think that you won't do it again with this war."

Rau chuckled again. "Look at my machine, dear boy. Who can change the world with this? Even such a magnificent weapon as yours cannot change much. No, I'm afraid this time I'm just trying to stay alive." His grin darkened. "Perhaps I _do_ have some evil scheme up my sleeve, but I certainly wouldn't be able to put anything of the sort into motion like this. Call me the defanged lion, if you like."

"Then why shouldn't I just kill you right here?" Shinn snarled.

Rau's grin did not even flinch. "Because you're all alone in enemy territory, the _Minerva_ is nowhere to be found, and you'd have to explain to your little lady friend there why you had to kill me." He eyed her amusedly. "I'm sure she's _quite_ interested."

Shinn glanced back painfully at Emily, finding her eyes full of fear and confusion.

"Seeing as how you are all alone in enemy territory, it would not behoove you to shoot your allies," Rau continued, "and right now, I am the closest thing you've got to an ally."

"You're no ally to me," Shinn shot back.

"Then where _are_ your allies?" Rau asked, still grinning. "Has Athrun Zala finally gotten so good at hiding from the truth that he can conceal himself from the naked eye and sensor scans now? Or perhaps your Extended friend is lying in wait somewhere nearby, ready to pounce on you as soon as she deems you to be in danger? I'm afraid you don't have any allies here—except for me. And even you will have to accept that you cannot do everything, Shinn. Until the _Minerva_ _does_ arrive, you will need to rest and recuperate somewhere—and I know where that 'somewhere' is."

"You think I'm going to trust you? After all the backs you stabbed in the Junius War?"

"If I _was_ lying about everything I've said so far," Rau answered, "then why am I here? Would I not be with the Earth Alliance, reaping the benefits of my association with Lord Djibril as I carry out his genocidal orders? And yet, as you can see from my machine and my dress and my actions, I am no friend of Lord Djibril. As soon as Blue Cosmos was victorious, I was cast aside. So fate has thrown us into the same trench—and in the interest of surviving the enemy army's coming onslaught, it would be wise for us to point our bayonets at the men on the other side, and not at each other." His grin flashed feral again. "After all, there will plenty of time for that afterward."

Shinn ground his teeth, glaring at the masked man on the screen.

"Who is this, Shinn?" Emily asked, half-hiding behind the cockpit seat and peering out from the jump seat.

"I am just a man with a vision," Rau said. "No more impressive than all the other men with visions in this world. But Mr. Asuka here does not appear to think much of my vision." He shrugged. "If your friend wants to hold grudges and be stubborn, I suppose that's his prerogative, but it would not be terribly wise."

"You're just going to stab me in the back," Shinn said, the defeat evident in his voice.

"Now why would I do that to a man who haunts the dreams of Earth Alliance soldiers all over this Earth Sphere?" Rau laughed. "There are friendly forces nearby. Shall we depart?"

Shinn regarded Rau venomously for a moment, before lowering his beam rifle. "Fine."

Rau smiled. "Good to see you've come to your senses. Let's go."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Bretagne, France**

The bridge was silent as the wreckage came into view. Pieces of what looked like what might have once been the _Mikhail Gorbachev_ floated over the water, along with the burnt-out wrecks of dozens of Windams. Vera could not hide her disbelief as she surveyed the debris, scanning the seas for any sign of the 21st Atlantic Patrol Group.

"The...the Destiny did this?" Vera murmured, glancing over at the captain's chair.

Danilov sat back, studying the wreckage grimly. "There were reports of another mobile suit," Danilov said, "but they indicated that they thought it was a GuAIZ. So this is probably mostly the doing of the Destiny."

Vera turned her disbelieving eyes back towards the destruction. "And...he's done this before?"

"We were too slow in getting here," Danilov said. "So these men laid their lives down for nothing." He stood, stepped forward, and gave the ruins a somber salute. "This _is_ the approximate territory of the Black Wolf, however. So it seems we'll be bagging the whole crowd this time."

Vera tore her eyes away from the wrecks. "If the Black Wolf unit is nearby, the _Minerva_ may be as well," she said. "Shouldn't we wait for reinforcements?"

"Waiting for reinforcements was the death of these men," Danilov said, grimly gesturing to the ruined warships. "The Black Wolf Unit is extremely talented at using AD-era military machinery for guerilla strikes and close-combat brawls. But they are not so great at fighting against a strategy-minded foe with conventional tactics. We have the forces to do exactly that—and that is what I intend to do." He turned back towards the bridge windows. "Find the Destiny with a long-range radar sweep and satellite information, and then follow them. We have dead comrades to avenge—move it, people."

—

**Bretagne, France**

It felt rather odd to Emily, who had been in a flying mobile suit for some time now, to now be in one that was literally jogging down an empty highway with a white-painted GuAIZ, both making a beeline for a forest looming in the distance on the Destiny's telescopic cameras. But Rau's GuAIZ could not properly fly, and evidently Shinn did not see fit to haul it through the air.

She looked over at Rau's GuAIZ as it stomped along next to the Destiny, its monoeye trenchantly fixed forward. The man inside had some mysterious history with Shinn, but she could not tell what. But, as she looked back at Shinn, if there was some evil behind that mask, she was sure that Shinn would protect her. He had fought through four battles to protect her thus far.

She still wondered why Shinn seemed to dislike Rau so much, though. Clearly there was bad blood and, as she thought back to the scraps of history she knew about the traitor Asuka, she recalled that the handful of bedraggled husks of humans that called themselves ZAFT veterans—the Phantom Pain had not yet hunted down _all_ of them, and they made for some of the Resistance's fiercest fighters—held a special hatred in their broken hearts for the Wings of Light. But she could not remember why. Perhaps this man was one of those wizened veterans...but if so, why was he helping them?

Shinn broke her thoughts off by glancing over at the GuAIZ and reluctantly opening a transmission.

"I was wondering when you'd call," Rau said with a smirk. "What is it?"

"What are you doing here?" Shinn asked pointedly.

"I'm here on Resistance work. There's a fairly famous unit operating in this area. Once we get into that forest, we'll be in the territory of the Black Wolf."

Shinn blinked in surprise. "The Black Wolf? You've been working with them?"

"For a few days," Rau answered. "They were the closest unit when I went looking for Resistance forces to lend my helping hand to."

"I'm sure they appreciate it," Shinn sneered. He glanced back at the girl huddled in the jump seat. "Emily, did you hear that?"

"Yeah," Emily answered, "but will we be safe there?"

Shinn looked back towards the forest, its trees dominating the horizon. "The Black Wolf is one of the most feared Resistance units in Europe," he said. "We'll be safe."

Emily looked back at the GuAIZ, and wondered who Rau Le Creuset was.

—

To be continued...


	4. Phase 04: Soaring Minerva

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

Note: Being multilingual must be awesome. Unfortunately, I am neither multilingual nor awesome and everything I know about French comes from a Steve Martin standup routine, so I relied on the French-speaking skillz of others. Thanks to kishiria (go read her stuff, it's awesome) for some of the translations. However, not all of the French in here has been properly translated by an actual human being, so if you see any French in here that looks like it was culled from FreeTranslation, well, it was. Sorry.

—

Phase 04 - Soaring _Minerva_

—

**February 25th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried**_**-class carrier plane **_**Mindanao**_**, Bretagne, France**

"It seems we were too late to save Arkady's unit," Ivan Danilov intoned somberly on the screen on the _Mindanao_'s bridge. "However, we are tracking the Destiny and the other mobile suit, confirmed to be a GuAIZ, into a forest. There are probably Resistance troops hiding there."

Sven Cal Bayan crossed his arms, staring at the map for a moment. "That unit is likely the Black Wolf," he said. "They typically operate in Normandy, but the Destiny is not an ordinary Resistance unit, so they may have moved here to intercept the Destiny and provide shelter."

"As I thought," Danilov agreed. "But if they are in a forest, that makes this doubly difficult. The Black Wolf fights best in forests and urban environments. I need not remind you what they did at Zurich."

"Robbing a bank and blowing their way out of the city is not the same as fighting off the Phantom Pain in a full-scale military assault," Sven answered. "We have incendiary bombs aboard the _Mindanao_, as well as plenty of stocks of napalm, and I'm sure the _Charlemagne_ has similar munitions. We can burn their shelter down around them."

Danilov appeared to recoil at the thought. "We will see," he said. "Before any attack is made, I intend to scope the area out."

Sven paused for a beat. "Understood, sir."

—

**February 26th, CE 77 - Bretagne, France**

Emily was afraid that she was going insane as the Destiny Gundam tramped through the forest, the GuAIZ right behind it. She had been cooped up in this cockpit for what seemed like forever, watching the world on screens. And aside from surviving no less than two skirmishes inside the Destiny's impregnable confines, she had not even had much to be excited over.

Excepting, of course, the considerations of her ultimate fate. What would she do? What would happen to her? Those were questions she was not entirely sure she wanted answered.

The Destiny shuddered to a halt, the GuAIZ right behind it, and Emily looked around apprehensively. A Strike Dagger in mottled forest camouflage stepped out from the shadows, beam rifle drawn. A fuzzy image of an unshaven man in the Dagger's cockpit appeared on the Destiny's screen, and the Dagger's pilot started up in surprise.

"_Mon Dieu! C'est Vermilion!_"he exclaimed. "_Capitain, qu'est-qu'on faire?_"

"_Ils sont avec nous, les deux_," a female voice answered. "_Permittez-en a passer._" Emily blinked in surprise as a flash of recognition went through her—was that voice who she thought it was?

"Follow me," the pilot said, his voice thick with an accent. The Dagger stepped aside, lowering its rifle, and turned to stomp deeper into the forest. Shinn followed it closely as it rounded a cluster of trees.

Emily looked on in disbelief as the forest opened up, and a sprawling camp appeared before her eyes. Mobile suits and ground vehicles stood all over the compound, standing among a small city of tents, and whatever had been going on there had stopped as the occupants of this hideout all looked up in disbelief at the Destiny Gundam.

"Oh boy," Shinn grunted. "I think I'm famous."

"There are people who think you're the Mahdi," Rau chuckled. "Now _that_ is what I call irony."

"Shut up."

The Destiny sank to one knee where the Dagger indicated—the Dagger stalked away before anything more could be said. Shinn glanced back at Emily.

"Nervous?" he asked.

Emily tried to put on a brave face, but both knew that was a doomed effort. Shinn opened the Destiny's cockpit hatch and emerged with a sigh, stretching his arms and deploying the zip line. He turned and offered his hand to Emily as she crawled out of the jump seat.

"We'll stay here," he told her, "and hopefully the _Minerva_ will be here soon. But just stick with me anyways. Not all Resistance soldiers are as, uh, _nice_ as I am."

Emily shivered as the horrible rumors from her days at Heaven's Base returned from the depths of her memories. She took Shinn's hand, crawled out of the cockpit, and gratefully stretched her muscles back into natural and human positions.

There were a handful of soldiers gathering at the foot of the Destiny as Shinn and Emily descended on the zip line.

"_Cachez le Gundam et le GuAIZ! Vite, vite!_" someone shouted, as soldiers in camouflage ran around the Destiny and GuAIZ.

"Jeez, and I didn't take French in school," Shinn grumbled. His and Emily's feet hit the ground, and Shinn stepped forward to meet the soldiers arrayed before him. "_Bonjour_. I'm guessing you already know who I am, so I'll just say that I appreciate your assistance."

"_Nous sommes heureux a vous voir, Monsieur _Asuka," one of the soldiers answered, leading the others in a sharp salute.

"Yeah, I didn't get any of that," Shinn said, hesitantly returning their salute.

"_Retourne-toi a votre travail," _the familiar female voice said again. "_Il ne parle pas Français. Je parle avec lui._" The voice's owner emerged from inside a nearby tent—

Emily blinked in disbelief as she came face to face with a woman that had clearly seen better days. Her left arm had been replaced from the shoulder down with a skeletal mechanical one; her left side and right shoulder were painfully scarred; the black tank-top and pants were covered over by military web-gear and a pair of pistols strapped to her legs; cherry-red hair framed her face, pushed away by a hand clad in a fingerless glove…

But Emily could focus on nothing else but her face. One eye was covered by a black eyepatch, but the remaining green eye could belong to nobody else but—

"Viveka...?" she asked quietly.

The woman paused in surprise, turning her remaining eye on Emily and staring at her for a moment. That lone eye widened in disbelief.

"..._Emily!_"

It was Shinn's turn to blink in surprise as Viveka closed the distance in a run that seemed like a leap, throwing her arms around Emily—and Emily was quick to follow.

"Oh my God, Emily, it's really you! I thought I'd never see you again! Oh God, how'd you get here? Did Asuka bring you here?"

"Wha—Viveka—what's going on?" Emily sputtered. "What are you doing here? What happened—?"

Viveka pulled away from Emily far enough to look at her. "We'll deal with that later. God, I'm so glad you're alright!" She squeezed Emily in another hug. "Oh, Lord, I can't believe it..."

"Um, 'scuse me," Shinn spoke up, "but would you mind telling me what's going on?"

Viveka glanced at him out of her good eye and blinked again. "Oh! Sorry," she said, standing back up and keeping her natural hand on Emily's shoulder. "Well, the Wings of Light himself, huh? Most people call me Black Wolf, but for a guy like you, I guess a proper introduction is in order." She gave a melodramatic bow. "Viveka von Oldendorf, the Black Wolf of Normandy, at your service."

Shinn tried not to focus on the sweeping view he now had of her cleavage. "Uh, thanks," he said. "I'm guessing you and Emily are related or something?"

"Of course we are!" Viveka exclaimed, straightening up and yanking Emily closer to her. "I'm her sister!"

Shinn glanced between the two of them and absently wondered whether there were any milkmen involved.

"Did you bring her here? How'd you get her? Oh man, I can't thank you enough—" Viveka went on. Shinn held up his hand to stop her.

"Um, it's okay," he said, "I'll explain it later."

"Well, the important thing is that Emily's my little sister," Viveka continued, smiling down at Emily—and Emily nervously smiled back. "We were separated a long time ago and now we're together again—and now that we _are_ together again, I'm not letting this little brat out of my sight ever again!"

"Wait, little what?" Emily asked meekly. Shinn decided not to say anything more and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"So," Viveka said, "the _Minerva_ radioed one of my guys and told them that they're on their way. They didn't give an ETA. So you just hang out here and we'll take care of you, and send you on your way when they get here. Okay?" She yanked Emily towards the tent she had come out of. "Now, I have a sister to get to know again!"

Shinn blinked as they both disappeared inside the tent. "Okay..."

"Isn't it good to be back with the rest of the herd?" Rau chuckled, emerging from behind the GuAIZ's leg.

Shinn scowled at him and headed back towards the Destiny.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Bretagne, France**

Climbing into his flight suit was easy enough to be subconscious by now, so Grey Saiba chose to reflect excitedly on all the possibilities of his first sortie as he strapped on his gloves in the locker room. Every Phantom Pain pilot was required to qualify on every Striker pack compatible with the Dark Windam, but his specialty had been on the Aile pack—a piece of equipment that, six years after its introduction and armed with six years' worth of upgrades and tweaks, remained easy to learn but difficult to master. And so he would be one of the elite few to ride a Slaughter Windam into battle, and surely the Resistance would have a hard time dealing with _that_.

He glanced over at Merau as she stood by the locker room door, helmet in hand, waiting impassively for him. "They're going to be firebombing the forest," she said, getting up as they both headed down the gantry towards their machines, "so be careful out there."

"I was in the top percentile," Grey replied. "I can handle them. We're finally getting our chance to fight the Resistance!"

"Well, don't go overboard," Merau said with a shrug. "The Black Wolf unit is out there too."

"The Black Wolf," Grey scoffed. "What's so special about them?"

Merau eyed him skeptically. "They were the ones responsible for the Paris attack," she said. "Made that raid in Antwerp, assassinated the governor-general of the Western Europe district in Metz, robbed that bank in Zurich, stole equipment from the Marseille base, and trashed the base in Calais. They're tough."

"Are they," Grey murmured, intrigued. "Well, they've never seen _us_ before!" He turned towards his own Windam with a confident grin. "Maybe they've beaten up the regulars, but they'll have to do better than that to beat the Phantom Pain! Let's go, Merau—we'll show the world what we can do."

Merau sighed in defeat as he bounded off towards his Windam.

—

**Bretagne, France**

Sitting awkwardly in a rusty folding metal chair, Emily looked uneasily at the woman that, a lifetime ago, was her sister. Viveka von Oldendorf still had the cherry-red hair, and she still had one of those vivacious green eyes. But so much of her had changed, even only physically—most strikingly and jarringly, one of those shimmering green eyes was gone, hidden by an eyepatch that had three prongs of a hideous scar poking out from underneath. She could see another scar on her right shoulder, a third on her left side, and most horribly of all, the tangle of scars that snaked up on the stump of her left arm, where natural flesh and blood gave way to the cold and terrifying metal of a prosthetic replacement.

Emily opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"What's wrong?" Viveka asked. "Emily...?"

Emily's eyes drifted to the ground. "...what happened to you...?" she murmured. Viveka blinked in surprise and looked down at herself. "You...you don't look the same..."

"Yeah," Viveka said, looking down at her mismatched hands. "It's what happens to people in war, I guess."  
"But what happened?" Emily protested. "I haven't seen you in five years..."

Viveka shrugged. "I joined the Resistance in '74," she said. "The Phantom Pain captured me and committed just about every war crime possible during my captivity. The Resistance broke me out and patched me up, and here I am." She closed the distance between them and wrapped her mismatched arms around her sister. "But that's not important. I'm still here and I'm still in one piece, if not with a few new components, so don't worry about me." She pulled Emily's chin up and smiled at her. "What about you? It's been five years. I hope you've been okay."

Emily cast her eyes back towards the ground, as the memories made their inevitable return. "I guess when your father sells you into the household staff of a man like Lord Djibril, 'okay' is sort of redefined," she mumbled.

"They didn't..._do_ anything to you, did they?" Viveka asked. "'cuz if they did—"

"They didn't," Emily answered. "They...they beat me a bit, but..." The glassy eyes of the less obedient servants made their nauseating return in her mind's eye. "They did worse things to other people."

Viveka squeezed her shoulders again. "Well, thank God they spared you the worst of it," she said. "I promise we're not gonna be separated like that again. Dad can't get us like this."

"I know," Emily murmured, "but..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't know what to do..."

Viveka was silent a moment. "How did you get out, then?"

Hakim made his return as well into Emily's memory, only to vanish again in another jarring ball of fire. "A Resistance fighter infiltrated Heaven's Base and, um, kidnapped me...he said there was something special about me. He gave me a disk and packed me into a mobile suit, and I was so scared I fled without thinking...and then Shinn saved me." She looked up pleadingly at Viveka. "But he said there was something special about me too. What could it be? Why is everyone so interested in me?"

Viveka said nothing again and Emily felt her heart sink. The world was after her, and the most terrifying soldiers in history were chasing her down—and although she could take refuge behind one of the most dreaded men in the Earth Sphere, she was rapidly feeling less and less safe. Shinn Asuka was a name that sent chills through great swaths of the human race, but he was not a god, and the Wings of Light could not cover everything.

"Well, he seems to be pretty set on protecting you," Viveka said, "so I should thank him for that, at least." A mischievous smile crossed her lips. "He _is_ kinda cute. He didn't make a pass at you, did he?"

Emily immediately blushed. "Wha—he—no he didn't!" she sputtered. "He saved me from the Phantom Pain!"

"Well, that just makes him more dashing and handsome then, doesn't it?" Viveka laughed. She glanced towards the tent's opening as she heard footsteps outside, and let Emily go. A thin young man in a camouflaged uniform and flak jacket ducked into the tent, out of breath.

"_Capitain! Le radar reporte qu'il y a des ennemis qu'approchent de l'ouest, suivant le Destiny!_"

"_Des ennemis? Merde!_" Viveka exclaimed. "_Alertez les troupes a preparer pour la bataille. Je sors bientôt._" The soldier rushed out of the tent; Viveka turned to face Emily as she seized a blue bridge coat from her own chair and threw it over her shoulders. "Listen, Emily," she said, "it looks like your Phantom Pain pals are back. So we're gonna have to find someplace safe for you to stay while we go fight."

Emily looked out into the forest, finding the armored vehicles and soldiers and mobile suits starting to move. "I'll stay with Shinn," she said quietly. "He'll...keep me safe."

Viveka glanced towards the Destiny Gundam, kneeling among the trees. Shinn was on the cockpit hatch, unsuccessfully attempting to speak French with one of the soldiers at the Destiny's feet. "That's true," she said. "If any mobile suit is going to walk away from this battle, it'll be that one." She looked back at Emily and hugged her again. "Just stay safe, and I'll see you again when this is all done."

"I know," Emily murmured.

"I mean it, Emily," Viveka went on. "we're not getting separated like that. Never again."

With one last hug, Viveka buttoned up her coat and rushed out of the tent.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried **_**-class carrier plane **_**Mindanao**_**, Bretagne, France**

"Our mobile suits are designed to operate as a team," Sven explained to Shams and Mudie as the Strike Noir stomped towards the _Charlemagne_'s central catapult. "As such, the Verde Buster can cover the long-range weaknesses of the Blu Duel and Strike Noir, while the Blu Duel and Noir can cover the Verde Buster's close-range weaknesses. That is how we will operate to bring down the Destiny."

"If you insist," Shams said with an arched eyebrow. "I don't think he's gonna fall for it."

"He is a wily one," Mudie agreed with a sadistic smirk. "So powerful..."

Sven threw a switch, bringing up Williams on the _Mindanao_'s bridge. "Captain, we'll launch with the Windam squadron. Once we do, we will need the _Mindanao_'s incendiary munitions. Time your attacks with the Windams' bombing runs and the _Charlemagne_."

"Aye sir," Williams answered, after the briefest of pauses. "But without a skeleton guard of mobile suits, we'll be vulnerable."

"The Resistance units will be too busy fighting off the _Charlemagne_'s forces to stop you," Sven assured him. "Today we will finally wipe out the Black Wolf. Commence operation!"

—

**Bretagne, France**

"Okay," Viveka said grimly, her battered face emblazoned on one of the Destiny's side monitors as the mighty Gundam came to life. "Here's the situation. Some really huge Phantom Pain ship and a _Siegfried_ are on their way here from the west. We can fight 'em in the forest, but it'll be ugly. I have seventeen flight-capable mobile suits, twenty-three ground-pounders if you include that masked guy in the GuAIZ, eleven tanks, nineteen other armored vehicles, and eighteen pieces of artillery, including twelve of those friggin' ancient Dvina surface-to-air missiles and three batteries of Patriots. What do you think?"

Shinn fastened his restraints and glanced back at Emily as she huddled into the jump seat. "You want brutal honesty or delusional optimism?"

"The former, if you'd be so kind," Viveka answered. "Lives are in the balance and stuff."

"We're screwed," Shinn answered. "No offense, but some of your equipment belongs in a museum, not on a battlefield."

"Hey, we're pretty good at shooting down MS with those missiles," Viveka protested.

"Yeah, when they don't see it coming," Shinn pointed out. "I'll take the flying MS with me into the air and we'll cover you from there."

The ground shook as a mobile suit threw off its camouflage tarp, and Emily looked on in surprise as a black four-legged mobile suit with what looked like three heads stomped by. She realized in disbelief that inside this thing was Viveka.

"You've got my baby sister in there, Asuka," she warned. The Kerberos BuCUE Hound turned its main monoeye on the Destiny with a flash. "You take good care of her, you hear me?"

"I'm not a baby," Emily protested quietly.

"I saved her from the Devil's Swords," Shinn said with a shrug. "What makes you think I'd let her get hurt now?"

Next to the Destiny, Rau's GuAIZ rose to its feet, activating its monoeye with a flash.

"The Phantom Pain's pilots are no pushovers, and AD-era military weapons are ill-suited to modern warfare," he warned. "Commander Oldendorf, your interests may be better served by retreat."

"Hell no," Viveka snorted. "They'd never let us go, and we didn't get our scary reputation by running away anyway. Let's go kick some ass."

—

"You've gotta be kidding me," Grey exclaimed as the Slaughter Windam sailed forward. "Merau, look at this. They've got guys with RPGs down there."

"So they do," Merau agreed, as her own IWSP Dark Windam fell into formation next to Grey's machine. "The poor man's anti-MS weapon, as it were."

"If they're that desperate, this will be over in no time," Grey chuckled.

"RPGs are still dangerous," Merau pointed out. "The light's flashing. Let's move!"

The two Windams joined the rest of the _Charlemagne_'s jet-black complement as they banked down towards the forest. Tracer fire was quick to respond, but the bullets were of no consequence to even the Windams' armor as they rocketed down into battle. Grey leveled off his beam rifle—down below, an antiquated-looking tank in green and yellow camouflage emerged from the trees, its main gun booming.

"Here we go..."

The Windam squeezed off a beam rifle shot, slamming it into the ground just in front of the tank and blowing it over onto its top. The Windams came down with a crash and stalked forward into the woods, even as enemies somewhere in the darkness opened fire on them.

"Move ahead and clear out mobile suits and armored vehicles," the squad commander barked. "Ignore the foot soldiers for now; the second wave will take care of them."

"Yes sir," Grey and Merau answered, plunging forward. Merau's IWSP Windam opened fire with the cannons on its IWSP, knocking down a cluster of trees and lighting a fire along the wreckage of a smashed APC.

Deep in the forest, Shinn narrowed his eyes at the images of the Windams overhead, focusing on the missiles mounted underneath their Jet Striker packs.

"They've got incendiary weapons," he said, glancing over at Viveka's BuCUE Hound. "They're gonna light this whole forest up."

"So I thought," Viveka agreed. "You go take care of the ones in the air. We'll handle the ones down here."

"If you say so," Shinn grunted

The Destiny's eyes flashed and the Gundam lunged into the air, with seventeen ragtag, forest-camouflaged mobile suits lifting off behind it. The remaining mobile suits and armored vehicles, along with a swarm of ground troops wielding all manner of firearms, tramped forward towards the booming sounds of the guns.

In the Destiny, Shinn glanced back at the mobile suits following him into battle, and to his dismay, found only a handful of BABIs, a squadron of DINNs, and a few Jet 105 Daggers and Dagger Ls; hardly something with which he could reliably repulse the power of the Phantom Pain. Even the _Siegfried_, with what looked like regular EAAF Jet Windams, would be able to outmatch them.

"I don't need to tell you that this'll be bumpy," Shinn said to Emily.

"I'll be okay," Emily mumbled back.

Shinn's eyes flashed as his enemies came into range. "Good."

The Destiny activated its beam wings and took off with a flash.

—  
"There he is," Sven intoned as the Strike Noir pitched forward, beam pistols in hands, flanked by the Blu Duel and Verde Buster on sub-wing units. "Remember our plan."

"If it works," Shams snorted. The Verde Buster fell back, activating both its beam rifles and snapping its bayonets into position. The Blu Duel and Strike Noir rocketed ahead, opening fire on the Destiny. Inside the shimmering machine, Shinn narrowed his eyes, ducking aside from their blasts. The Strike Noir and Blu Duel closed in, with the former switching to its beam blades and the latter drawing a beam saber as they both moved in for the kill. Shinn somersaulted effortlessly over their heads—but then the sense kicked in, and he sent the Destiny jetting to the left, just dodging a beam cannon blast from the Verde Buster.

An instant later, the Blu Duel was back, beam saber raised high for a killing blow. Shinn thrust his beam shield into the Blu Duel's path, blocking its saber—but then the Strike Noir came down with a crash from the other side, forcing Shinn to deploy his other beam shield, blocking the Noir's swords.

"Shit!" Shinn grunted. The Verde Buster lined up behind the Destiny, beam cannons leveled off, and Shams grinned victoriously—

Emily's eyes went wide as something sliced across her consciousness—a feeling she had never known before, a feeling of danger. The rest came naturally; "Shinn!" she cried. "Behind you!"

Shinn snapped his attention to the rear-view camera, and sent the Destiny into a dizzying backflip as the Verde Buster fired, lancing a pulsing red beam into the space the Destiny had occupied, as the Blu Duel and the Noir backed away.

"Dammit!" Shams growled. "We _had_ him!"

"Press the attack!" Sven ordered, swinging in with sword upraised. "Mudie, close in!"

The Blu Duel swung in, saber extended—Shinn whirled around, switching to his anti-ship sword and sending the Blu Duel reeling back with a devastating downward hack.

"Damn him!" Mudie grunted, struggling to retain control of the staggering Blu Duel. "So powerful…!"

The Strike Noir edged in behind the Destiny, swords upraised—Shinn narrowed his eyes at the attacker and darted around with a diagonal downward slash, forcing Sven to throw his Gundam back again before he was sliced in two. The Verde Buster opened fire with a volley of missiles—Shinn glanced at them and smile—

"I was wondering when they'd do something that stupid," he grunted. The Blu Duel came charging in from behind—the Destiny somersaulted over Mudie's head, and Emily gasped in disbelief as the missiles came streaking towards the Destiny...

...only to veer up as the Destiny gestured towards the Blu Duel and Noir. The two Gundams rocketed apart as the missiles came down around them, and the Noir picked them out of the air with a CIWS burst.

"My missiles!" Shams exclaimed. "How the hell did _that_ happen?"

"He can recalibrate and reorient enemy missiles," Sven said. "Attack him with unguided munitions!"

"Quit being so difficult!" Mudie snapped, taking off towards the Destiny. She stabbed forward towards the Destiny's cockpit with her saber—the Destiny effortlessly parried her blow with its sword and charged forward, kicking the Blu Duel back in the process and nearly knocking it off its sub-wing.

Emily squeezed her eyes shut as the Destiny plunged back into the fight.

—

Grey's jet-black Slaughter Windam expertly ducked as an armored car on the ground to the Windam's left opened fire with the turret-mounted cannon on its top. Grey grinned and whirled around, firing his beam rifle and blowing the vehicle apart with a thunderous explosion.

"Merau, I just took out some old armored car, for Christ's sake," he complained, scanning the battlefield for more attackers. Small arms fire rattled against his Windam's armor—he glanced at the flashes of assault rifle muzzles from behind a cluster of trees, and effortlessly wiped them out with another beam rifle shot. "Are you _sure_ these guys are so tough?"

Nearby, Merau's IWSP Windam put a volley of Gatling gun shells into the armor of a tank as it desperately plowed forward, its main cannon booming. Merau easily sidestepped the shells and smashed the burning tank underfoot. "There's gotta be more than this," she insisted.

A GINN in forest camouflage colors lunged out from behind another cluster of trees, leveling off its machinegun, with a ZuOOT bringing up the rear behind it. Grey took a step back, bracing himself behind his shield as the GINN opened fire—and an instant later, Merau cut them both down with a winnowing volley of beam rifle shots.

"This is too easy," Grey snorted. "I was hoping for a challenge—"

Another wave of beam blasts answered him, and only instinct saved him as he took the shots to his shield. Merau took a step forward, covering Grey's Windam with her Gatling shield, only to pull back behind the shield as the beams focused on her.

A pair of trees came down with a crash, and with a flash of its monoeye, the black Kerberos BuCUE Hound emerged.

"What the hell is this?" Grey muttered. "Some kinda mutant BuCUE?"

"It's a high-end ZAFT ground model," Merau said, narrowing her eyes at it. "Be careful."

Inside the BuCUE Hound, Viveka von Oldendorf narrowed her eye at the two Dark Windams standing before her. "_Jean,_" she said, "_vous prenez les autres en avant. Je contrôlerai ces deux._"

"_Reconnu,_" came the answer. Behind her, a handful of mobile suits rushed forward with a Dagger L at their head, and a cluster of armored vehicles surrounded by soldiers. Inside his Windam, Grey scowled at the charging troops, raising his beam rifle—

"I don't think so!" Viveka snapped—the BuCUE lunged forward, slamming head-on into the Windam and throwing it back. The troops and mobile suits rushed past as Merau turned her guns to focus on the more immediate threat in the BuCUE—but too late, as Viveka leapt off the fallen Slaughter Windam, spiraling through the air and landing on its feet out of the line of fire. The BuCUE's beam fangs snapped to life and the four-legged machine charged at Merau's Windam.

"It's so fast!" Merau shouted, deflecting the BuCUE's beam blasts with her shield. She ducked aside as the BuCUE lunged towards her, beam fangs ready, and whirled around for a killing blow—but already the BuCUE had turned and dove aside to dodge Merau's follow-up shots.

"Fast, maybe!" Grey snapped, as the Slaughter Dagger charged, beam rifle blazing. "But not invincible!"

Inside the BuCUE, Viveka ground her teeth as the beam shots nearly smashed into her machine. She converted the BuCUE to tank mode, peeling away and leading the Windams after her. "_Toutes troupes, ramene en arrière dans la forêt!_"

"_Impossible! Le feu s'est étalé aussi loin!_" came the answer. Viveka cursed under her breath as she wheeled around to face the Windams again.

—

The GuAIZ rattled as a bazooka shell plowed into its shield, and Rau grunted as his trusty GuAIZ threatened to outright topple over. He tried to activate the dual claw, only to find that the impact had smashed the circuits connecting his cockpit controls to the beam claws—another wonderful design flaw he could thank ZAFT for.

"This machine is simply too old," he grunted, ducking aside and squeezing off a beam shot back at the bazooka-wielding Dark Windam that had robbed him of his shield's functionality. The Windams effortlessly blocked his blows, and Rau cursed as he watched the looming form of the _Mindanao_ up ahead launch another volley of missiles into the forest. "And everyone else will be smoked out at this rate...I think I see why Mr. Asuka was never the strategist."

The Windams charged forward, opening fire with their beam rifles. Rau pulled back behind his shield, grateful that at least the anti-beam coating was still working, and returned fire with his beam rifle. Again, his shots landed only against the Windams' shields or nothing at all, and he absently and bitterly reflected on the truth of his statements when he had told Shinn that he could do nothing with such an outdated machine.

The bazooka-toting Windam lunged forward, leveling off its bazooka for a killing blow—Rau took a step back and deployed his extensional arrestors, ripping the bazooka from the Windam's hand. Before he could follow the strike up, however, he was forced back on the defensive by more beam fire from the Windams.

A familiar feeling went shooting up Rau's spine as he sent the GuAIZ backpedaling into the forest. "Well," he told himself with a grin, "I need only hold out a little longer..."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

"Communications, get me the commander of the _Mindanao_," Danilov barked. The _Charlemagne_ was plowing forward, spewing beam fire and missiles into the forest below, and the Black Wolf unit was, sure enough, unable to stop the onslaught. Sneak attacks and guerrilla raids were where the Wolf ruled, but conventional warfare was the forte of the Phantom Pain.

Williams appeared on the main screen, seated in the _Mindanao_'s captain's chair. "Captain Danilov," he said in surprise, offering a salute. "What is it?"

"You're getting too close to the battlefield," Danilov warned. "Be careful. We have friendly units down there."

Williams was crestfallen. "But sir, I'm under orders from Captain Bayan to press the attack—"

"I'm countermanding Captain Bayan's orders," Danilov interrupted. "Get back to a reasonable altitude before you get yourself killed." He glanced over at his own bridge officers. "Fire Control, increase intensity of our own fire to Pattern Delta. Captain Bayan is too reckless." He looked back at Williams. "Be patient, captain. We have them trapped, and nothing short of a miracle will save them now."

—

"Shinn! What are we going to do?" Emily exclaimed.

The Destiny lunged down between incoming strikes from the Blu Duel and Strike Noir, leaving only a trail of afterimages for the two mobile suits to bisect.

Viveka's static-broken image appeared on one of the side monitors. "Shinn, all my men are dead, dying, or running head-long from the battlefield," she said. "We're toast. Backup plan?"

The Blu Duel lunged into Shinn's field of view—he smashed its saber aside with his beam shield and sent it plummeting towards the ground with a scything kick to the face.

"Little busy now," he grunted. The Destiny ducked beneath the Strike Noir's beam blades and took off, dodging the Verde Buster's beam cannon shots. "But at any rate, don't you worry, the tide will be turning shortly."

—

Down below, in the cockpit of her Kerberos BuCUE, Viveka ground her teeth. Cute as Shinn might have been, Viveka hated it when people got cryptic on her, and while she was in the middle of a fight to the death with the Phantom Pain was not the best time to be getting cryptic either.

The BuCUE lurched forward, beam fangs deployed—inside the IWSP Windam, Merau ground her teeth and ducked to the side, spraying the BuCUE with Gatling fire. Viveka cursed and tried to throw the BuCUE into the air by its front legs, but the merciless Gatling bullets ripped out both front legs and the Kerberos Wizard's left head, sending the mobile suit plunging into the dirt with a crash.

"Perfect!" Grey cackled. "Now let's kill this guy and get on with this!" The Slaughter Windam leveled off its beam rifle at the fallen BuCUE—

And then something came spiraling out of the heavens, severing the Slaughter Windam's arm at the elbow. Grey yelped in surprise, backing up in disbelief as another mobile suit came down with a crash, illuminating the clearing with a flash of its cold green eyes.

Viveka looked up at her savior—the red armor, the V-fin and dual sensors, the crest...

"The Justice!" Merau exclaimed.

"That bastard!" Grey snapped. "He hit me—"

The Infinite Justice Gundam snapped its beam rifle up into position and opened fire, forcing both Windams back behind their shields.

"You can't fight like that!" Merau protested, backing away. "Go back to the ship! I'll cover you!"

"_What?_" Grey yelled. "My first sortie—"

"_Go!_" Merau shot back. With a crash, her IWSP shouldered Grey's Windam back and sent it staggering towards the edge of the forest. She backed up herself, before turning tail and ducking under the Justice's shots.

The Justice lowered its rifle and looked down at the maimed BuCUE.

—

Rau's GuAIZ shuddered as a beam blast landed against the mobile suit's left shoulder, blowing off its entire left arm.

"At least I wasn't using that arm," he grunted as the arm crashed into the ground. He backed away, returning fire, but the Windams again ducked aside from his shots and blew off the GuAIZ's right arm as well, sending it toppling to the ground. Rau smiled as the Windams approached—

...because the moment they did, a torrent of beam blasts slammed into the ground in front of them, throwing them back. The Windams retreated, and Rau grinned as the imposing forms of the Abyss and Gaia Gundams slammed down in front of him. The Abyss let loose a full blast from its beam cannons, sending the Windams scattering. The Gaia opened fire as well, and the Windams backed away behind their shields, before breaking ranks and fleeing.

"Perfectly done," Rau chuckled.

—

A new wave of missiles came slamming into the Strike Noir as it came rushing in towards the Destiny, sword upraised. Shinn smiled as the missiles were followed up by a volley of beam rifle blasts, and the Chaos Gundam dropped into the battle with a beam claw-assisted kick.

"Shinn, who are they?" Emily asked urgently.

"They're on our side," he said. "Happy face on now, you're about to make some new friends." The Destiny opened fire with its long-range gun, forcing the Verde Buster back.

"Reinforcements?" Shams snapped. "Those can't be what I think they are!"

The Chaos trained its rifle on the Verde Buster, forcing it back as it launched another salvo of missiles at the Blu Duel and Strike Noir. Shinn somersaulted up over the Chaos and took off, turning towards the _Mindanao_ as it came roaring in for one final pass.

"They're gonna hit us!" Emily wailed. "Shinn—"

She fell silent as a quartet of green beam blasts came slicing like lightning from the heavens, plowing into the side of the _Mindanao_, blowing off its wing and pounding through the bridge tower. The smoldering remains of the plane went plowing into the forest below, belching fire and smoke. The _Charlemagne_ ceased fire, as did its mobile suits, and all eyes turned to the sky.

Shinn smiled.

"Right on time," he said.

Overhead, silhouetted against the sun, the _Minerva_ sailed into battle.

—

To be continued...


	5. Phase 05: Stories of Newtypes

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 05 - Stories of Newtypes

—

**February 26th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Bretagne, France**

Meyrin Hawke could never shake the nagging voice in the back of her head that this chair was not hers; that this chair, this uniform, this position were all meant for Talia Gladys. And even with the _Minerva_'s first captain three years dead, the feeling remained that she was trespassing. Meyrin Hawke, after all, was not Talia Gladys, and the confidence and professionalism that Talia Gladys had radiated from this chair was not something that Meyrin could have ever reproduced.

However, Talia Gladys was dead, and instead it was Meyrin Hawke sitting in the captain's chair of the _Minerva_. Reality was a bitch like that.

She surveyed the bridge as her vessel—in the loosest sense of the pronoun, of course—plunged into battle. Three years had stripped her crew of their ZAFT uniforms, replacing them instead with black pants, camouflage-patterned shirts, black ZAFT ground-issue boots, and maroon berets. They had cut their ties to their homeland, as it were...because their homeland no longer existed, and now they were fighting to create a new one.

And that, it seemed, was why she was sitting in the captain's chair. A fresh start for everything, even her.

"Give our mobile suits enough cover fire to recover our allies," she instructed, her commands still sounding hollow to her ears. "We'll retreat as soon as we've got them onboard."

"Retreat?" someone exclaimed. Meyrin fought down the urge to rescind her own order as the XO's console chair turned, and the blue eyes and short blonde hair and ZAFT Black Shirt's peaked cap of her executive officer, Abbey Windsor, swiveled to face her. Meyrin hated it when that happened. "Captain, what about that ship?"

"We'll worry about it later," Meyrin answered. "Right now we have to recover that data and our allies."

Abbey returned to her console in obvious annoyance, and Meyrin silently wished she commanded the respect that Talia had. She wore the white cap and the blue overcoat of a captain, but underneath she wondered if she was just a little girl in a costume.

"Justice reports that it's got the Black Wolf leader secured," Roxy added. "So, uh, mission accomplished?"

"Not yet," Meyrin answered. "I'm sure that ship will be paying us a visit sometime soon. Chen, fire some missiles at them—we need to keep them back."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

"Captain, the _Minerva!_" Vera exclaimed, pointing at the great winged warship as it stormed into the fight. "Where was it hiding?"

"Missiles, captain!" the sensor officer exclaimed.

Danilov narrowed his eyes. "Igelstellungs, intercept!" he ordered. A pall of smoke rose up around the _Charlemagne_ as the _Minerva_'s missiles were cut down by a flurry of CIWS bullets. "All mobile suits, pull back! We will retreat!"

Vera blinked in disbelief as she looked back at Danilov, "Retreat? But sir...why?"

"Don't question me," Danilov shot back. "The _Minerva_'s position is too advantageous right now." He glanced down at the burning forest. "Besides, that smoke is going to get up here and cut our visibility down to nothing. Hurry it up! We'll pursue them to a better locale and make the kill."

—

"Retreat?" Shams yelled as the word came through to the mobile suits. "But we've got those motherfuckers right in our sights!"

"Are we cowards...?" Mudie murmured.

Sven glanced back at the two Gundams as they backed away from the Destiny Gundam. Up ahead, wings shimmering, the Destiny was roaring off towards the _Minerva_, a trail of afterimages glimmering behind it.

"The _Mindanao_ was shot down," Sven pointed out. "So we will need a new home base from which to operate." He glanced over at the _Charlemagne_. "We will board the _Charlemagne_ and join Captain Danilov's mobile suit complement."

"If you say so," Shams grumbled. "Bet he won't be happy to see us."

The three Gundams cast one last glare at the departing Destiny and took off towards the _Charlemagne_.

—

"Well, the mighty Orb Marauder returns," Roxy chuckled as the Destiny cruised in towards the _Minerva_. "You always need us to bail you out, Shinn."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Shinn chuckled. He glanced back at the jump seat.

There he found Emily, staring in disbelief at the hulking winged form of the _Minerva_. "That's...that's really..."

"Yep. 'Arrow of God,' 'Blessed _Minerva_,' all that," Shinn said. "We go by lots of names." He gestured to the woman on the screen. "I believe you've already met, but introductions might as well be made again. This is the _Minerva_'s MS deck operator and communications officer, Roxy Bannon."

"Yo," Roxy added, with something resembling an amiable grin.

Emily blinked at it all as the Destiny approached the _Minerva_. "Um...hi." She ran a nervous glance over the _Minerva_'s dark and battle-worn armor as the port-side catapult opened up to receive the Destiny. This was the ship that plagued the nightmares of Earth Alliance soldiers across the Earth Sphere. This was the ship that carried the five mobile suits that sent even the mighty Lord Djibril into fits of impotent rage. This was the ship that would change the world.

And here she was, being carried into it.

Another screen opened up, and a blue-haired man appeared. "Shinn, I sense Rau," he said, his voice clipped and somber, his eyes betraying nothing but rage. "What the hell is going on?"

Shinn's thin smile disappeared. "I'll explain once we land," he said.

Emily realized in shock that the blue-haired man was Athrun Zala just as he sniffed in disgust, and the screen went blank. She looked back up at the Destiny's main monitors, shuddering as the Destiny landed and stomped into the hangar.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Bretagne, France**

The bridge door slid open, and Sven Cal Bayan, still clad in his black standard-issue Phantom Pain flight suit, with his helmet under his left arm, entered with a sharp salute. Danilov greeted him with a salute of his own, as Mudie and Shams filed in behind Sven.

"Good to see you made it back intact," Danilov said, shaking Sven's hand. "Welcome aboard the battleship _Charlemagne_. The quartermaster will take care of getting you three settled in. In the meantime, we have a war to fight."

"That is why we are here," Sven intoned.

"This ship's purpose is to hunt down and destroy the _Minerva_," Danilov explained. "One chance has been taken from us by circumstance already, but I intend to start manufacturing more chances. We will pursue the _Minerva_ into range of friendly units and attack at a time of our choosing. They can't shake us now."

Sven did not miss a beat. "Then we will be here to strike the final blow."

—

"Four kills...four kills...you sure it was four kills and not five?" Grey asked, holding aloft a can of spray paint and stencil as he stood on the gantry by his Windam. Even as the mechanics were repairing the right arm, Merau noted, nothing could curb his enthusiasm.

Except, of course, reality.

"No, it was four," she said.

"But there was that CGUE—" Grey began.

"That was Wilkinson," Merau interrupted, nodding towards the Doppelhorn Windam at the other end of the hangar. "He incapacitated it. You just hit it again to blow off the Vulcan shield."

"Bah," Grey muttered, donning his face mask and setting to work. "But still, four kills on my first sortie ain't bad! I'll make ace in no time!"

"Uh huh," Merau answered, leaning back against the railing. "I wonder if any of the Resistance troops made it out..."

"Who cares? We'll kill 'em all."

Merau glanced at the three new machines, the Gundams standing in a corner of the hangar, surrounded by inquisitive mechanics. "Well," she went on, "we'll never know...'cuz we're after the _Minerva_."

Grey finished applying his last kill mark and threw off his mask. "They caught us by surprise last time," he said, "but next time they'll see how powerful we are."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Bretagne, France**

Emily had expected her arrival on the _Minerva_ to somehow involve guns. What she had not been expecting, however, was for them all to be pointed at Rau.

Indeed, no less than a dozen solders in steel helmets and camouflage fatigues and flak jackets had assault rifles leveled off at the black-coated Rau Le Creuset, who seemed more amused than a man being held at gunpoint ought to be. The soldiers appeared fairly confused, but the man at their head, handgun in hand, eyes alight with a glare that could have killed lesser men, most certainly did not.

The man called Athrun Zala could only glower hatefully at Rau Le Creuset over the barrel of his gun. The woman that Emily recognized as Meyrin, the ship's captain, was nearby, looking about as confused as the soldiers. Emily was pondering the likelihood of getting shot if she said something when Athrun Zala finally spoke.

"No matter how famous he was as a ZAFT soldier, captain," Athrun said, slowly and in a measured voice, "this man is not trustworthy. Please listen to me on this."

Shinn glanced at Emily, and the look in his eyes was all the reason Emily needed to stay put. He turned again. "Athrun, put the gun down," Meyrin said. "He was the White Knight of ZAFT in the Junius War. Do you think he's going to hurt us?"

"Of course," Rau chuckled. "If I wanted to hurt you I would have simply not pointed out where the Black Wolf unit was hiding."

"Besides, we need all the allies we can get," Meyrin added.

"He's done more harm to anyone than his skills and knowledge could possibly justify," Athrun spat. "Captain, please—"

"I have to agree with Athrun on this," Shinn added. "I brought him in here so we could get rid of him safely. But he orchestrated the Junius War."

At that, Meyrin stared incredulously at him for a moment. "Orchestrated the Junius War," she echoed. "The war that got the entire Coordinator people destroyed, and the survivors exiled to Mars." She gestured towards Rau, who, in the pit of her stomach, Emily suspected was actually _trying_ to look innocent. "Are you seriously telling me that one of ZAFT's foremost aces engineered the PLANTs' destruction?"

Athrun cringed. "In so many words."

Meyrin looked to Shinn, and Emily could see a flicker of hesitation in her eyes. "Well, we'll let him stay," she said. "Under surveillance, if that helps." She turned back towards Rau. "We'll let you stay, sir, so long as you earn your keep."

Rau's grin flashed feral. "I'd have it no other way," he said, as one of the soldiers led him away.

Athrun stuffed his pistol back into his jacket and stormed off. Shinn watched him go, looking somehow defeated. He glanced at Abes, standing near Meyrin with a clipboard in hand.

"If those two are joining us, what are we going to do about these two in the way of mobile suits?" he asked. He gestured towards the ruined GuAIZ and BuCUE Hound, slumped in a corner of the hangar. "Those things are no help to us right now, and we don't have the spare parts to fix them."

One of the mechanics behind Abes spoke up. "We still have the spare parts to the Savior and Legend," said the dark-skinned young man, stepping forward with arms crossed. Emily blinked in surprise as he cast a chilly glance towards Shinn. "Instead of just saying that someday we're gonna pawn 'em off, maybe we could put 'em together."

"That'll do," Abes grunted, waving at the supply of spare parts. "I'll put you in charge of putting Humpty-Savior and Humpty-Legend back together, then, Yolant."

"Aye, sir," the mechanic, Yolant, answered, casting another icy glare at Shinn and heading off.

"How do you like that," muttered Abes, glancing across the hangar at the huge metal crates where, Emily guessed, there were mobile suit parts hidden inside. "'Hey guys, welcome aboard. Would you like a Gundam? Take your pick.'" He shook his head. "Shinn, you owe me for this."

Emily looked back at Shinn, but he turned away before she could see his face. Instead he pointed at the half-complete husk of yet another mobile suit. Emily could see even from her vantage point that it had the face of the Destiny Gundam—so she guessed they were building a second Destiny Gundam. But as for why, only the sinking feeling in her stomach could provide an answer.

"You see that thing there, Emily?" he asked.

Emily looked at it with an edge of apprehension. "Y-yes."

"Good," Shinn said. "Then come with me. We need to have a little talk."

—

Meyrin Hawke returned to the bridge wondering if Rau Le Creuset was really at all trustworthy. Athrun and Shinn clearly had a bone to pick with him, but she was the captain now, and she had to decide. And he had been one of ZAFT's greatest aces during the Junius War. What could have gotten him on Athrun and Shinn's bad side? Was it really something to do with _starting_ the Junius War? But he had been there at Solomon's Sword to take command after Dullindal's death. That was preposterous…wasn't it?

Her answer would have to wait as the bridge doors opened. Burt Heim turned his seat towards her, standing and offering a salute. "The _Charlemagne_ is following at a cautious distance, captain," he reported. "Electronic warfare is showing nothing."

The helmsman's chair turned next, and Malik Yardbirds saluted as well. "Course, captain?"

Abbey stood from her haunt near the starboard side of the bridge's mapping console, behind the captain's chair. "They're clearly not letting us just slip away," she began, activating the map and bringing up a display of the European continent, "but they're hanging back far enough not to provoke us."

Meyrin studied the map and struggled to think like Talia. It was no game, but she had to treat it like one—anticipating an opponent's move and making a move of her own to disrupt what her foe planned to do. The blinking symbol that represented the _Minerva_ was heading northeast, towards the Baltic Sea—but three years in the captain's chair had taught her that nobody was going to let her just go in a straight line towards her destination.

"Well," Meyrin started, "let's not be provoked, first of all."

"Above all, we have to get back to Carpentaria," Abbey continued. "Which is about halfway around the world."

Meyrin glanced over her shoulder at Roxy, who currently had her feet up on the communication console and half a bottle of Wild Turkey in hand. "Miss Bannon, bring up a list of the Resistance units in Eurasia," she instructed.

"What, all five-ka-fucking-trillion of them?" she asked, sitting up and tapping a few keys. Meyrin suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, remembering why they had long ago given up on trying to get Roxy to act like a disciplined soldier, and instead turned her eyes to the main screen.

"There's Poljarny," Abbey suggested. "We might even get an escort."

"We've had escorts before," Meyrin pointed out. "Remember what happened to the _Blenheim?_"

Abbey looked down sadly as the memories resurfaced. The screams were all they needed to remember.

"If we go over Russia, we'll pass by Vorkuta," Meyrin went on. "But other than that, it's pretty open territory. If we go the whole distance at flank speed, we could get across Siberia in a couple days and turn south at the Sea of Okhotsk. From there it's a straight shot past Japan and down to Carpentaria."

Abbey studied the map for a moment. "If we can get across Siberia," she said. "Arctic Command isn't going to let us waltz on through."

"Well, our other alternative is turning south," Meyrin answered, hoping that this idea wasn't full of holes, "which would mean cutting over the Black Sea and heading down across Anatolia, into the Levant. I don't think Eastern Europe Command or Mideast Command will be too thrilled with that." She pointed out the _Minerva_'s projected route across Russia's coldest and most inhospitable reaches. "Besides, Arctic Command isn't that bad. And I'd sooner take my chances with the polar bears on the ice cap than set foot in the Middle East."

"That place is a clusterfuck if I've ever seen one," Roxy put in, taking a healthy swig of Wild Turkey.

"Interesting word choice, Miss Bannon," Abbey said crossly. "We could always go to _Amsterdam_—_"_

"Does _everybody_ have to bring that up?" Roxy groused.

"At any rate," Meyrin interrupted, hoping to avoid another excruciatingly detailed explanation of things she didn't want to know, "the shape of the Resistance in the Middle East is so horribly tangled up that we'd have to shoot anything that moves to get out alive. It looks like there aren't too many Phantom Pain units in Russia, and I'd rather take my chances with Arctic Command."

"I suppose so," Abbey agreed.

"Malik," Meyrin continued. "Set course for Murmansk. We'll stop there and then cut across Siberia, then turn south at Okhotsk and head down the Pacific to Carpentaria."

"Aye, captain," Malik answered, setting to work at the helm.

Abbey leaned back against one of the mapping console's chairs. "I wonder how things are going down in Carpentaria...they must be almost done planning the attack on Heaven's Base."

"And that's why we've got to get there first," Meyrin said. "Before the Alliance does."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Lower Normandy, France**

"_Minerva_'s projected course plotted, sir!" the sensor officer exclaimed. "Bringing it up on the main screen."

Danilov sat back with Vera standing by his chair as a sprawling map of the world flashed onto the screen. A red, blinking cursor, marked as the _Minerva_, appeared over the northwestern corner of France, and from it extended a dotted line that swept across Scandinavia and Siberia.

"As I thought," Danilov said. "And they're probably heading to Carpentaria and the ZAFT Remnant. They'd have no reason to go anywhere else."

"And aside from Vorkuta and Svalbard, there isn't a major installation in their path. Just regional bases," Vera added. "And few units of the Phantom Pain."

Danilov risked a smile. "Except for us," he pointed out. "Nevertheless, if they can get into Russia and cut across Siberia like this course suggests, they'll be over relatively open ground. Arctic Command isn't going to be able to stop them."

"So we can't let them get past the Urals," Vera agreed. "We have to contain them in Europe."

Danilov sat back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Colonel Shoyou's unit was in the Urals, fighting guerrillas," he said. "But he was reassigned to Warsaw, wasn't he?"

"Yes sir. They said the Neo-Bolshevik guerrillas hiding out in the Urals had been cleared out."

"Well then, I'm sure he's itching for a fight." Danilov glanced over at the communications console. "Comm officer, get me a transmission to Lieutenant Colonel Kenta Shoyou at Warsaw Air Base. I have a proposition for him."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Lower Normandy, France**

The observation deck was empty, but that was not the first thing Emily noticed. Instead she took in the panoramic view she had of northern France, panning by underneath her. She looked back at Shinn, but he did not seem taken with the view.

"W-what did you need to talk about...?" Emily asked, as the familiar fear began to rise again.

Shinn studied her face for a moment. "That mobile suit in the hangar that was under construction," he said. "It's for you."

"For me?" Emily exclaimed. "Wha—you want me to pilot it?"

"In so many words," Shinn answered. "Yes, we want you to be a pilot and use that machine."

"B-but I can't do that!" Emily protested, trying to fight down the panic. "You saw me in the Windam, didn't you? I can't fly something as complicated as the Destiny!"

"We'll load a Natural-use OS, if that's what you want."

"But that won't—I can't do it! I'm not a pilot, and..." She trailed off, as fear got the better of her—but she struggled to push it back down. "I'm not you!"

Shinn regarded her strangely for a moment, killing anymore protests before they could pass her lips.

"No," he agreed at last, "you're not me. But you resemble me."

"Wha—? I—"

"Just listen," he cut her off, holding up a finger. "There is far more to you than even you realize yet. Now, just listen, and answer me honestly. During the last battle, while I was fighting the Devil's Swords, did you feel anything different? A flash of recognition, a feeling like you could see the future?"

A wave of sickening realization hit Emily like a rockslide as she thought back to the battle and remembered painfully the moment that one of the Gundams had tried to sneak up on the Destiny and shoot it from behind. She had seen it coming, and warned him—

"Y-you mean..." she began, unable to finish.

"That is the power of a special kind of human being," Shinn explained, "different from a Natural and a Coordinator. Tell me, do you remember three years ago, during the Junius War, when the leader of the PLANTs went on global TV and made an announcement?"

Emily nodded brokenly, as memories of a "Destiny Plan" popped back into her consciousness.

"Do you remember the details of it? What he wanted to do?"

Emily squeezed her eyes shut, holding her head as the memories spoke.

"_George Glenn gave no name to the evolved being for which Coordinators were made to help us become,_" the voice sad. "_I call them Newtypes._"

"I'm...I'm one of them?" Emily asked painfully, looking up at Shinn and feeling her heart break.

Shinn turned his crimson eyes out the window. "When Dullindal was talking about Newtypes," he said, "he was talking about me. And what he failed to mention is that the powers of a Newtype are painful burdens to have to bear." He looked back at Emily, and she felt her blood run cold as the light in his red eyes was replaced by the pain of experience. "You have those powers. I can sense it, and deep down, I think you can sense it too. Those powers are going to start getting clearer and clearer." He stepped forward, putting a hand on Emily's trembling shoulder. "When I went through this all, nobody was there to hold my hand. Everyone who told me these things wanted to use me as a weapon. I had to figure everything out myself, and I couldn't do that until..." He paused, and Emily looked on in surprise as he was almost overtaken by emotion. "I couldn't do that until it was too late." Shinn shook his head. "So now I've met someone else with the same powers as me, someone who will have the same problem as me. But I don't want anyone else to go through what I had to go through. So that is why I want you to pilot that new unit. I want you to have the power you need to protect what's important to you."

Emily looked away unhappily. "I can't do that," she protested. "I...I'm not a soldier."

"Neither was I," Shinn answered. "I wore the uniform, but that's not all it takes to be a soldier." His eyes darkened grimly. "If Hakim hadn't picked you up at Heaven's Base and you hadn't met me, the Alliance would have discovered your powers for themselves. But they wouldn't offer you power to protect what you want to protect. They would use you as a weapon. They would turn you into nothing better than an Extended. And I don't want that to happen to anyone, let alone anyone who would have to go through what I've gone through."

Emily shook her head again. "I can't," she repeated. "I...just can't, I...I'm afraid to fight..."

Shinn smiled sadly. "Everyone is."

—

**Earth Alliance Warsaw Air Base, Warsaw, Poland**

The _Siegfried_-class carrier plane _Danube_ was a veteran of anti-partisan warfare in Eastern Europe. It had taken part in the brutal carpet-bombing of Kharkiv, ostensibly to destroy the last vestiges of a Ukrainian Communist Resistance group, but in practicality meant to stun all of Europe into submission and terrify the Resistance into surrender. An entire city had gone up in flames under the brutal wings of the _Danube_ and others—clearly, she had tasted the blood of Resistance cowards and traitors before.

And so, Lieutenant Colonel Kenta Shoyou was satisfied enough to be taking off in it.

The short, muscular Japanese man in a brown Earth Alliance Air Force uniform stood with crossed arms on one of the observation decks, watching as workers down below scrambled to load his silent black Raider Gundam unit into the _Danube_'s sprawling hangar. He had made his name in a mere Jet Windam before the Rearmament Program in CE 76 had pulled units like this out of storage, upgrading their weapons and avionics and putting them back into service to fight off the hordes of the Resistance. They were everywhere, but the cold eyes of Gundams would chill their blood as they had chilled the blood of so many others.

A lifetime of achievements stood behind him, crowned by the glory of his previous assignment. He had fought the Neo-Bolshevik Worker's Party of Russia, as they had liked to call themselves. With little more than a single _Siegfried_ and its mobile suits to work with, he soon absorbed the resources of approximately an entire division, driving the Neo-Bolsheviks from their stronghold in Novgorod across western Russia, into the unforgiving arms of the Ural Mountains, leaving a trail of blood and butchered men in his wake. There he had ended that ragtag band of guerrillas, pushing them from the cities and villages in which they fought best to the mountains, where they were forced to find shelter in the biting cold of winter. And as frostbite and freezing temperatures thinned their ranks, Shoyou, the "Sky Samurai," conducted a bombing campaign that could have rivaled the Kharkiv attack. And when the final survivors of winter and war straggled forward to surrender, he had gleefully drawn his katana and decapitated their leader, right before the disbelieving eyes of the guerrillas...and right before Shoyou's own men opened fire and put an end to the Neo-Bolshevik Worker's Party of Russia forever. His most glorious moment, to be sure.

And it had happened back in December.

With no mountain-bound Communists to fight, Shoyou had been reassigned to the Warsaw Air Base. Europe still had plenty of Resistance activity, but aside from the Kharkiv bombing that had at any rate occurred before Shoyou's arrival, none of the situations were such that commanders called for a fleet of aircraft to level a city. European cities were too valuable for that, apparently.

But now the _Minerva_ was coming.

The _Minerva_. Shoyou's mouth watered at the prospect of fighting the symbol of the Resistance. Even as he had destroyed the Neo-Bolsheviks in the Urals, he had hoped that fortune would bring the _Minerva_ into his territory. What greater glory could he obtain than turning the ship that some soldiers prayed to into scrap metal?

And those arrogant bastards in the Phantom Pain, he reflected, would _have_ to respect him.

Shoyou glanced at the square-jawed officer that stepped onto the balcony behind him. Captain Reinhardt was a veteran of the Kharkiv bombing—surely he could recognize an opportunity for unheard-of glory when he saw it.

"Colonel," Reinhardt said with a salute. "Report from Warsaw Radar. The _Minerva_ will reach Düsseldorf in a few hours."

Shoyou glanced back towards the Raider as the mechanics locked it down. A captive audience for a glorious victory—what could be better?

"Tell the men to hurry up, then," he ordered. "We have the opportunity of a lifetime, captain. I trust you will not let me down."

"Of course, sir," Reinhardt answered, saluting again and taking his leave.

Shoyou grinned, imagining the _Minerva_ before him.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Upper Normandy, France**

Athrun Zala had made it a habit to watch hawkishly over the mechanics as they repaired and maintained the Infinite Justice Gundam. Three years later, he still could not figure out how he had failed so terribly to protect anyone at Solomon's Sword. The memories were as hideously fresh as they had been on January 18th, CE 74—watching the Akatsuki and Mwu La Fllaga inside vanish in a puff of fire, feeling Yzak Jule die, feeling Dearka Elthman slip away, finding the wreckage of the _Megami_...how?

And of all the people Athrun had thought dead that day, it was Rau Le Creuset who had cheated the Reaper.

That, then, made the name of the Infinite Justice Gundam that much more ironic.

Three years of fostering fledgling Newtype powers had made Athrun perceptive enough to know when someone was coming, and as such, he turned at the feeling of a human presence. There he found the Black Wolf, and now that she had shed her coat, Athrun could see the grain of truth behind the rumors that she was Frankenstein's monster. War had certainly left more than one of its marks on her body.

"So, you're Athrun Zala," the what-was-left-of-a-woman answered. "They tell me you're the one who saved me from a grisly fate. So, uh, thanks." She extended her natural hand, and Athrun hesitantly shook it. "Viveka von Oldendorf. It wouldn't do to make everyone call me 'Black Wolf,' would it?"

"I guess not," Athrun agreed, glancing back at the Infinite Justice. It would have to do without him for a bit—but eventually, he would be back to fine-tune the OS and squeeze every last iota of performance he could out of it.

"They're building me a mobile suit," Viveka went on. "I guess you guys were carrying spares or something. So I'll be sticking around as a pilot." An awkward grin. "Uh, hope you don't mind."

"I'm sure we'll find a way to live with the extra firepower," Athrun answered, crossing his arms and returning his attention to the Justice. "What about the Black Wolf unit?"

Viveka's grin faded. "The Black Wolf of Normandy is undergoing something of a renovation," she explained. "I have no idea how many survived the battle down there, but it can't have been many. Either way, I guess this is the best I can do for them." She shrugged her scarred shoulders. "I _do_ have a little sister to protect, anyway."

Athrun said nothing, staring resolutely down at the Justice.

"Not very talkative, are we?" Viveka asked, the smile returning.

Athrun shrugged himself, still saying nothing. Viveka studied him for a moment; Athrun Zala, one of the most formidable mobile suit pilots in the world, a man with a price on his head so astronomic as to be part of some countries' national budgets, seemed a broken man.

All she could think to do was shrug again. "Well, okay then," she said, turning towards the hangar. "Then I'll go take a look-see at what they're gonna give me."

Athrun glanced after her.

—

"I said 'B3,' you ass!" shouted one voice, from a blue-haired man in a gray outfit. "And it as a hit! I hit your goddamn submarine!"

"No you didn't!" shot back the other, the smartly-dressed green-haired man in a red shirt and white sport coat. "You said 'E3,' and it was a miss!"

The combatants stood at opposite ends of the table in the _Minerva_'s crew lounge, glaring each other down as Shinn and Emily entered the room. They both glanced over, and Shinn blinked in surprise.

"Uh, Emily, meet Sting Oakley and Auel Neider," he said, gesturing to them. "If you want. Don't get too close, these _Battleship_ games get kind of heated."

"I-I see," Emily murmured, wishing she could hide behind Shinn. Sting and Auel both blinked uncomprehendingly at her for a moment.

"Oh, right," Sting said. "You're the girl that Shinn's been running around with."

"Wow, if _that_ wasn't the worst way you could have put that," Shinn remarked awkwardly, as Emily tried to contain the blush on her face and Auel snickered. Sting shrugged.

"Eh, you should be so lucky," he answered. "Anyways. Sting Oakley, nice to meet you." He gestured to Auel. "This sore loser is Auel Neider."

"Fuck you, Sting," Auel shot back.

"I think we came at a bad time," Shinn said, glancing back furtively at Emily. "Come on."

Emily looked awkwardly over her shoulder as Sting and Auel went back to fighting. Shinn led her across the lounge, where there was another person sitting near the corner, staring out the window at the inky black expanse of the sea, slowly drifting away.

"And that," Shinn said, "is Stella Loussier."

The blonde-haired woman in a gray ZAFT service coat slowly turned at the sound of her name, and Emily waved meekly.

"Stella," Shinn said, pausing to take her hand and gesture towards Emily, "this is the new pilot. Her name is Emily."

"Um, hi," Emily added awkwardly.

Stella stared blankly at Emily for a moment, before turning her empty violet eyes towards Shinn. "Emily...is Shinn's friend...?" she asked.

"Yeah, you could say that," Shinn agreed.

Stella smiled slowly at Emily. "Then Emily is Stella's friend," she answered.

"Were you watching the sea, Stella?" Shinn asked. Stella nodded.

"But it's dark," she said, "so Stella can't see it very well...and the ship is going away from it..."

"I know, but we'll be back to the sea soon. Okay?"

Stella smiled and returned her attention back out the window as Shinn left her side, leading Emily away.

"Wha...what's...who is Stella?" Emily asked, stumbling for the right words. Shinn glanced over his shoulder, back at Stella as she stared out at the ocean.

"She and Sting and Auel are Extended," he explained. Emily gasped in surprise. "Stella's a Class III, the most altered." He looked back gravely at her, lowering his voice to a whisper. "I met her four years ago and I've been protecting her ever since, and I've been trying to reverse all the changes the Alliance made to her to make her act this way, but I haven't really been successful. So whatever you do, do not use the word 'die' around her. Understood?"

Emily nodded and looked around again. "They...they were all in the Junius War...? How am I supposed to measure up to them?"

Shinn glanced back at Sting and Auel. "You'll have your own battle to fight," he said.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Upper Normandy, France**

The sprawling map of Eurasia was active again on the main screen of the _Charlemagne_, with the _Minerva_'s projected course sweeping across Siberia. Danilov stood with Vera to the side and Sven in front, all studying the map closely.

"If they're going to cut across Siberia and head south at the Sea of Okhotsk, like we predict," Danilov said, "then the best course of action would be to prevent them from getting out of Europe."

"Which means we have to attack soon," Sven concluded.

"Precisely." Danilov pointed at the approximate location of Warsaw Air Base on the map. "I've called ahead to the Shoyou unit at Warsaw, and they've agreed to fly in and attack the _Minerva_ from the front. We'll let the Shoyou unit soften up the _Minerva_, and then sweep in from behind to cut them off."

Sven studied the map for a moment. "They will be passing over Düsseldorf soon," he observed. "The _Minerva_ is known to avoid combat over populated areas for fear of collateral damage." He looked towards Danilov, and Danilov felt a chill run down his spine at the emptiness of Sven's eyes. "We can attack them over Düsseldorf and take advantage of that."

Danilov looked uneasily back at the map. "Captain," he said, "that would violate, among others, the Corsica Treaty—"

"Irrelevant," Sven interrupted. "The _Minerva_ is not a signatory to the Corsica Treaty. None of the units of the Resistance are. They do not enjoy any of its protections."

"We nevertheless must uphold the spirit of the treaty," Danilov countered. "It would be wrong to use civilians as shields, as you suggest."

"Resistance fighters have been known to do the same thing," Sven pointed out, "if not outright attack civilians."

"Then how would we, of the Phantom Pain, be any different or better if we were to adopt the tactics of the Resistance? We have a moral responsibility—"

The gleam in Sven's eye froze Danilov's blood and cut off his words. "There is no place for morality in war, Captain Danilov," Sven said. "Our enemies show none. If we show them mercy where they do not, then we will be destroyed. We must meet their ruthlessness with ruthlessness to match. That is what it means to serve in the Phantom Pain."

Danilov said nothing as Sven returned his attention to the map.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Picardy, France**

Emily guessed that her room, shared with Viveka, had once belonged to someone else, but the dust and the ambiance of the room suggested that whoever that someone was, they had left the room a long time ago. And as such, the former occupant's fate was something into which Emily saw fit not to inquire.

That left Viveka leaning against the cabinet near the head of her bed, mismatched arms crossed, regarding her sister thoughtfully.

"So," she said, "how you holding up?"

Emily, slumped on her bed opposite of Viveka's, glanced up at her sister. "I'm okay..." she said. "But...I'm gonna be a pilot..."

"A pilot?" Viveka asked, arching the eyebrow over her only eye. "Pilot of what?"

"They're building another Destiny Gundam," Emily explained. "And...Shinn wants me to pilot it..."

Viveka took a swig of water or beer or whatever it was she was drinking—Emily certainly had no idea. "Well, are you going to?" she asked.

Emily looked down in defeat at the floor. "That's what I was going to ask you," she said. "I...I can't be a mobile suit pilot."

Viveka studied her sister's worried face for a moment. "Well," she said, "Shinn Asuka is no ordinary guy. To a point, I'll trust him. And besides, what else were you planning on doing on this ship?"

"I have less of a chance of getting blown up if I just wash dishes," Emily mumbled.

"Kid, you're on the _Minerva_," Viveka laughed. "The only way you stand a good chance of not getting blown up is if you're nowhere near it." Another shrug. "You don't have to if you don't want to, I guess. You _did_ kinda get sucked up into all this against your will."

Emily dropped her head into her hands with a sigh. "Shinn wants me to be a pilot," she murmured. "But...I'd have to be a soldier. I can't be a soldier."

"I don't think Shinn wanted to be a soldier either," Viveka pointed out. "That's what the stories about him all say. 'course, the guy's got a whole layer of mystery and intrigue around him, but still, he isn't exactly hardcore military either."

Emily sighed again. "I...just want to think about it first," she said. "Is that fair?"

Viveka smiled back. "He'll understand."

—

Night had finally cast its cloak over the European continent as the _Minerva_ sailed onward, heading northeast over France and towards the Low Countries. In the distance, well to starboard, the lights of Paris were visible from the deck.

Few crewmembers ventured onto the _Minerva_'s open-air deck after sunset, due to the cold. But that was why Meyrin Hawke had the blue overcoat of a ZAFT officer on as she stood on the deck, staring at the lights of Paris panning by.

She glanced towards the main hatch as Shinn Asuka emerged into the cold, slowly walking up next to her. She watched him carefully for a moment—every time she laid eyes on him, the past reminded her malevolently of itself. Three years of war later, she was willing to brush aside her hidden affections for the man before her as a schoolgirl's crush, but that was while he had served on the _Minerva_ and worn the uniform of ZAFT. Now he was back on the _Minerva_, but everything had changed.

Shinn put his hands on the rail. "I think Emily will join us," he said quietly.

"I didn't doubt she would," Meyrin answered. "You Newtypes seem to have a language all your own."

Shinn smiled bitterly. "Yeah. A language I'm still getting the hang of."

Meyrin glanced over at him. Four years ago, she would not have been bold enough to even speak to him if not spoken to first, but then again, four years ago it was Talia Gladys who had to command this ship.

"Are you trying to protect her?" she asked.

Shinn looked grimly at Meyrin, and then returned his attention to Paris. "I don't think I need to tell you that I changed when I was with the Mad Typhoon Gang," he said quietly. "I met a girl there, and I guess we had a relationship or something."

"You guess?" Meyrin asked, not altogether comfortable with discussing what she feared would be Shinn's love life.

"It was a mess," Shinn admitted with a shrug. "I promised I would protect her with the powers I had as a Newtype. Instead, the Freedom Gundam killed her. And I've had to live with the knowledge that for as powerful as people say I am, and for as feared as I am today, I couldn't keep that promise." He shook his head. "I know I'd never be able to forgive myself if I let the Alliance get their hands on Emily and turn her into something like Stella. But I've promised to protect people before, and I couldn't."

Meyrin was silent a moment. "You've protected us..." Shinn glanced at her in surprise. "You might not remember it, but I do. After you destroyed that mobile armor at Orb, you told me that you wanted to protect the ship." She looked down at the hull of the vessel that she now commanded. "Luna...told me that."

Shinn looked over her, and Meyrin needed no Newtype powers to see the painful nerve that had been struck.

"There's a lot of people I couldn't protect," Shinn said quietly. "And I don't want anyone else to end up like all those that I let down."

Meyrin smiled thinly. "Being a Newtype must be hard."

Shinn smiled back. "That's one way to put it."

—

**February 27th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Namur Province, Belgium**

The right-hand shoulder shell of the Abyss Gundam slid shut, its solid shell cannons reloaded, and on the gantry near the Abyss's cockpit, Auel Neider sat back with a sigh.

"Man, this place is getting crowded again," he said, glancing across the hangar at the three mobile suits under construction. The second Destiny unit was almost complete, but work was proceeding slowly on the Savior and Legend.

On the other side of the gantry, Sting Oakley crossed his arms. "Yeah, but more firepower's never a bad thing," he said. "I just hope these new guys don't suck."

Auel glanced towards the Legend. "Well, that Rau guy was, like, a ZAFT ace or something, so he'd better not suck. But I dunno about the other two."

Sting shrugged. "I hope they all do well," he said. "It'd be a shame to bury any of the crew, y'know?"

"Yeah," Auel agreed. He smiled sadly. "Well, I guess we _did_ find a home. Ain't that what Captain Lee told us to do?"

"'I'd like to think he would be in charge of this ship if he were still alive," Sting replied. "But I think we're doing the right thing. He told us to do what we wanted with our lives."

"Besides," Auel said, smirking up at the Abyss, "I kinda like the new reputation."

—

"You guys sure know how to treat a girl!" Viveka laughed as she gazed up at the half-complete skeleton of the Savior Gundam. "Man, this thing will be way better than that BuCUE. I always wanted a Gundam."

By her side, Athrun Zala arched an eyebrow at her. "A flight-capable mobile suit is a much different beast than a ground-based machine."

"Yeah, well, I can handle it," Viveka answered. "Humor me here. A couple of days ago, I was fending off a bunch of drunken guerrillas in a forest who wanted blowjobs all around. Now I'm on board the friggin' _Minerva_, getting my very own Gundam. Horatio Alger couldn't write anything better."

Athrun glanced aside awkwardly. "I guess that's an improvement," he coughed. "It'll take a few days to complete, since all the parts have been in storage for three years and need to be checked and possibly upgraded with newer avionics."

"I thought so," Viveka agreed. "I'll find something to do." She glanced over at the dour blue-haired pilot. "Thanks, by the way. I don't want to be useless or anything, but I wasn't expecting you guys to go all out with finding me a purpose."

Athrun shuffled uncomfortably. "We'll probably be attacked soon," he mumbled, turning to leave. "So be ready for combat."

The boy hero of the PLANTs scurried away uneasily, and Viveka watched him go in confusion.

—

The sea was merely a sliver of blue on the horizon now as the _Minerva_ pulled inland, cutting over the ancient continent of Europe and the glitzy, high-tech cities and suburbs under a brilliant blue sky. Days like this, with a calm breeze and a beautiful open sky stretching over everything, were the most popular days for the crew to venture out on the deck and bask in the sun—at least before an Earth Alliance unit stumbled upon them and they'd all have to go back inside and blow someone up.

As such, on days like this, one could see all the way out to the shores of England. And so, Stella Loussier stood on the deck, hands on the rails, watching the sea. It was so far away, but it would have to do. Soon the sea would be too far away to see at all, so she would just have to make do with it while she could.

Shinn was there too, but he seemed sad. That seemed to be how he always was. Stella glanced over at him. At least his new friend, Emily, seemed nice. Stella always had friends on the _Minerva_, but that didn't mean she wasn't happy to have new friends too.

"Shinn is sad again..." she murmured. Shinn glanced over at her. "Shinn is always sad."

"I try not to be," he answered with a shrug, turning to face her. "I guess it just happens."

Stella looked back towards the sea. "Is Emily special...?" she asked. "Like Shinn?"

Shinn's face turned sadder still, and Stella blinked in surprise at him.

"That will depend," Shinn said, "on whether she wants to be."

—

To be continued...


	6. Phase 06: Learning to Fly

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

Note: With apologies to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Couldn't resist.

—

Phase 06 - Learning to Fly

—

**February 27th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried**_**-class carrier plane **_**Danube**_**, Warsaw Air Base, Warsaw, Poland**

"_Danube_, all units standing by. Timing is yours; runway is clear."

The operator's voice went silent on the bridge of the _Danube_ as the mighty warplane edged into position on the runway. Reinhardt glanced from the captain's chair at the passenger's seat, where Lieutenant Colonel Kenta Shoyou was stretched out, arms crossed, grinning.

"We're going to make history, boys and girls," Shoyou said. "Captain, let's go."

"Aye, sir," Reinhardt answered. "_Danube_, take off and proceed to cruising altitude!"

The _Danube_ lurched forward, racing down the runway, and lifted off with a roar from its engines. Shoyou sat back and relished the feeling as the _Danube_ rose into the air, its nose tilting towards the sky. Too much time spent on the ground in Warsaw—but finally he was back in the air, back in his element, and soon enough, he would have a chance at immortality.

The _Danube_ edged up into the air and slowly leveled off at cruising altitude. Shoyou glanced over at the communications console.

"Comm, send out a message to the Marseille base," he ordered. "Have them scramble a squadron of Skygraspers to come up on the _Minerva_ from behind. We'll cut that ship in two."

Reinhardt blinked. "Sir, the message from the _Charlemagne_ specified that they were coming in from the _Minerva_'s rear," he protested. "Shouldn't we leave that to them?"

Shoyou sniffed contemptuously. "I don't want the Phantom Pain taking credit for this," he scoffed. "Those black-shirted mongrels think they're good enough to sacrifice the lives of us in the regular forces. This is our chance to prove them wrong, captain."

Reinhardt glanced uneasily towards the direction the _Minerva_ was in, somewhere beyond the horizon. "Understood, sir."

"I'm going down to check on the Raider," Shoyou said. "Trust me, captain. Today will be a glorious day indeed."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany**

"That's funny," the sensor officer muttered. He glanced over at the navigator next to him, and they both studied the radar screen for a moment.

"That _is_ funny," the navigator agreed. "Looks like a squadron of fighters coming out of Marseille."

"Yeah," the sensor officer agreed, pausing to throw a few switches on his console. "Heat signatures are Skygraspers. Looks like it's the 137th."

"And their bearing," the navigator agreed. "They're headed for..." He trailed off, and turned towards the captain's chair. "Captain, sir, there's a squadron of Skygraspers coming out of Marseille, heading for the _Minerva_."

Danilov was at the sensor console in a heartbeat, where he found a cluster of dots moving across the radar screen, towards the approximate location of the _Minerva_.

"The Skygrasper unit is hailing us," the communication officer added. On the main screen, the young face of a man in an Earth Alliance flight suit.

"_Salut_, Captain," the man said. "2nd Lieutenant Renault of the 137th Skygrasper Mobile Suit Support Squadron. We thought we should check in with you before we carry on."

"Why are you in the air at all?" Danilov asked, looking none too amused. "You're headed straight for the _Minerva_."

"I understand, sir," Renault answered. "My unit was scrambled on request of Colonel Shoyou on the _Danube_. He wanted us to attack the _Minerva_ from behind."

"Shoyou," Danilov growled. "He must be one of _those_ soldiers..."

"Are you countermanding Colonel Shoyou's order, sir?" Renault asked.

"No," Danilov answered, hands on his hips in disgust. "If Colonel Shoyou wants to take on the _Minerva_ without our help, then let him do it without our help." He offered the Skygrasper pilot a shrug. "Good luck, lieutenant, and keep your wits about you. The _Minerva_ is no pushover."

"Thank you, sir," Renault said, returning the salute. "I'll pass your regards on to Colonel Shoyou. Renault out."

The screen went dark. Vera stepped up next to Danilov as the captain seethed.

"Is it wise to just let them go like that, sir?" she asked. Danilov shook his head.

"Helm, flank speed," he ordered. "If we hurry, we might be able to catch them."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany**

It loomed above them, silent and menacing. The second Destiny unit was complete, in all except name, color, and pilot. But those were out of the mechanics' hands, and were the province of Shinn, as he leaned against the gantry railing, staring up at the Gundam's face with Abes, Sting, and Auel next to him.

"Other than name and Phase Shift coloration, the new Destiny unit is complete," Abes said. "Until the pilot specifies a unique name, this one will be Destiny Zero-Two and yours will be Destiny Zero-One." He glanced over at Shinn. "Are you sure she's going to join us?"

"I'm sure," Shinn answered.

"That's nice," Auel put in, "but _why_ are you sure? I ain't buying that 'I'm a Newtype, I just know' shit."

"Deep down, she knows that she has these powers too," Shinn explained. "And the alternative is winding up with the Alliance, where she probably won't be treated as, uh, nicely as we'll treat her." He shook his head. "It's like looking into the past and seeing myself. I want to protect her."

"Isn't that the line you used on Stella?" Sting asked skeptically.

"'The line I used on Stella'?" Shinn repeated, glancing at Sting. "I'm not like _that_."

"Sure you aren't," Auel snickered.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Sting added, crossing his arms. "I don't want to bury another member of the crew. That's not fun."

"I know," Shinn agreed. "But it's better this way."

—

A mobile suit pilot.

Emily stared at her reflection in the mirror above her bed and tried to see it in herself. She tried not to recall her hours behind the controls of a Windam—she was convinced that pure dumb luck and the providential interference of the Destiny had saved her from being reduced to atoms. The Destiny unit that was being built in the hangar was almost identical, in all except its operating system, to the Destiny unit that Shinn piloted. Could she do with the Destiny what Shinn could do?

She tried to recall the feeling of safety she had felt inside the Destiny, but that feeling had come more from its pilot than the machine itself. Who was Shinn kidding? Could she really be a pilot?

He had said that she had powers, the kinds of powers that a dark-haired man in the PLANTs had told the world about three years ago. Shinn had those powers too—the rumors said that those powers were what made him such a skilled pilot. If she did in fact have those powers, then with the power of the Destiny, no one would be able to harm her ever again.

...or would they? Shinn Asuka was mortal, after all—capable of weakness, capable of mistakes. Emily had seen it in battle, when it was she who detected an enemy first; and off the battlefield, when she saw in his eyes the scars and demons of a lifetime of pain. Was that what came with these powers? Was it worth it?

And, thinking back to her performance in the Windam, she wondered if it really mattered anyway. She had known, somehow; she had done this before. That was the only way she could have felt so _natural_ inside that cockpit.

But how?

—

"Captain!" Burt exclaimed. "Detecting a squadron of fighters approaching us from the southwest! It looks like a group of Skygraspers!"

"That didn't take long," Roxy grunted, as the bridge doors opened and Meyrin swept in like a hurricane.

"Skygraspers to the southwest, captain," Abbey said as Meyrin leapt into the captain's chair. "And that's probably not all they're sending either, if the past is any indication."

"Probably not," Meyrin agreed, adjusting her cap. "All hands, go to Condition Red! Deploy the mobile suits!"

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried**_**-class carrier plane **_**Danube**_**, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany**

"The _Minerva_ looks like it's getting ready for combat, sir," Reinhardt's voice came through in the cockpit of the Raider Gundam. "The _Charlemagne_ is doing a full burn to reach the battlefield in time."

"Are they," Shoyou chuckled, clicking his helmet's visor shut. "They'll be in time for our moment of glory, then. Have the _Danube_ hang back for the time being—we'll head in first and test the waters."

"Understood, sir." Reinhardt's screen went blank, and Shoyou looked ahead eagerly as the _Danube_'s hangar door swung open. Up ahead, he could see the distant winged form of the _Minerva_—and already it was launching mobile suits.

"This is Colonel Shoyou, -X370 Raider," he called out. "All units, launch!"

The Raider shot forward, and Shoyou broke into a grin.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

The alarm was already digging into Emily's consciousness when Shinn opened the door to her room, finding her curled up on the bed, trying to block it out. Shinn narrowed his eyes and stormed in, yanking her up by the shoulders.

"The second Destiny unit is prepped," he told her, shaking off the sinking feeling as he looked into her wide and terrified eyes. "Are you ready to fight?"

Emily stared back at him. He wanted her to fight; but what was he thinking? She wasn't Shinn Asuka—she couldn't be the kind of ace he was.

"I can't," she protested, pulling herself out of his grip. "I...I can't be what you think I am!"

"Shinn, hurry up!" someone shouted outside. "There's another unit, and it's got mobile suits!"  
Shinn growled under his breath. "Then you're going to have to decide pretty quickly," he told Emily. "It would be better than just hiding in here."

Shinn took off out the door and rushed down the hall, leaving Emily behind to curl herself up again and shiver in fright.

—

"So the golden girl isn't coming?" Abes asked from the gantry as Shinn raced up to the Destiny's cockpit.

"Get the Zero-Two ready anyway," Shinn instructed, throwing himself into the Destiny's cockpit. "What are we looking at?"

"Squadron of Skygraspers and a _Siegfried_'s worth of mobile suits," Abes reported, glancing over his shoulder as the Chaos Gundam stomped up to the _Minerva_'s starboard catapult. "If you've got any special equipment requests, make them now and make them fast. We don't have much time."

"I've got all I need," Shinn said, fastening the restraints. "Get clear; I'm going."

Abes took off down the gantry as Shinn shut the cockpit hatch. The mechanics pulled the loading gantry away and the Destiny Zero-One stepped forward, eyes flashing.

Shinn glanced over at the silent Zero-Two nearby, as the mechanics worked to prepare it for battle.

_She'll have to,_ he told himself.

The Zero-One stepped into the central catapult, Phase Shift coming to life. Shinn glanced at the Zero-Two one last time.

"Destiny, you're all clear," Roxy said. "Timing is yours."

Shinn glared out ahead. The enemy was out there, and until Emily made up her mind, it was all on him.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny Zero-One, launching!"

—

"Colonel, it's the Wings of Light!" one of Shoyou's wingmen cried, from one of the six Raider Full Spec units flanking the jet-black Raider Gundam. Inside, Shoyou's grin flashed feral.

"Wonderful! The Destiny Gundam will make a fine trophy for the EAAF!" he cackled. "All units, engage the _Minerva_'s mobile suits at will! The Wings of Light are _mine!_"

The Raider rocketed ahead of its comrades, opening fire with its Ahura Mazda cannons and taking aim at the Destiny. Down below, the legendary Gundam's beam wings came to life with a flash, and the Destiny ducked aside the Raider's shots with a cloud of afterimages in its wake.

Shinn returned fire with his beam rifle, glancing back at the _Minerva_. "This thing looks like it's after me," he grunted. "Athrun! I'll leave the rest of the MS to you!"

"Fine, go have fun without us!" Sting shot back. "Auel, we'll take care of those Skygraspers!"

The Chaos and Abyss peeled off, while the Infinite Justice and Gaia put themselves between the _Minerva_ and Shoyou's charging troops. Shinn took off over the Raider's head, with the black mobile suit following in mobile armor mode, spitting beam cannon shots after the Destiny.

"Running away?" Shoyou laughed. "Is this the traitor Asuka?"

Shinn whirled around, drawing his anti-ship sword and bringing it down with a crash. The Raider lurched aside, spiraling out of harm's way and transforming into mobile suit mode. Shoyou sent his Mjolnir hammer hurtling forward—the Destiny somersaulted over it, but before Shinn could follow the move up, he ducked aside to avoid another wave of beam blasts from the Raider.

"Dammit," Shinn grunted. "This guy..."

The Raider brought its hammer back around—Shinn took the blow to his beam shield, wincing as the entire Destiny rattled painfully, and fired back with his beam rifle. The Raider lunged over the shots and transformed back into mobile armor mode, retracting its hammer and attacking again with its Ahura Mazda cannons. The Destiny somersaulted over the charging Raider again, but before Shinn could attack, the Raider flipped over and squeezed off two more blasts, pounding them against the Destiny's beam shield.

"This guy is the one they were calling the Messiah?" Shoyou chuckled. "I'll cherish this day, Gundam! Now _die!_"

The Destiny Gundam rocketed out of Shoyou's path, dodging another blast of beam fire and roaring through the air, leaving a cloud of afterimages behind it. The Raider reverted to mobile suit mode, opening fire with the dual beam cannon on its left arm, but the Destiny dodged again, and Shoyou's shots caught nothing but afterimages.

"So you're human after all!" Shinn snapped. "Let's see how many more mistakes I can get you to make!"

The Destiny opened fire with its long beam cannon and its beam rifle, aiming to catch the Raider's shoulders, but Shoyou sent his machine into a dizzying drop and squeezed back a beam cannon shot.

"Those special effects aren't going to trick me!" Shoyou screamed. "_Go down!_"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

Meyrin felt a little better about her chances with the great ZAFT ace Rau Le Creuset sitting in the bridge chair to her right. She vaguely recalled it as being the chair that Gilbert Dullindal had occupied during the _Minerva_'s unexpected maiden voyage—which gave Meyrin a sense that there was some irony at work here. But there were more important things to worry about here.

"Athrun reports that the mobile suits are holding," Roxy said. "Sting and Auel have the Skygraspers."

Ahead, framed by clouds and smoke, the _Danube_ loomed against the blue sky, waiting patiently.

"Only the mobile suits are attacking," Abbey observed. "That plane isn't moving at all."

Meyrin glanced as surreptitiously as she could at Rau. He caught the glance and smiled. "They must be trying to keep us occupied," he put in. "The _Charlemagne_ was approaching as well, if I recall?"

"It is, at twenty-five kilometers," Burt reported.

"Then they must be trying to tie us up until the _Charlemagne_ arrives," Rau said.

"Which means we need to beat these guys before they get here," Meyrin concluded. "Let's attack that plane—that should do the trick."

"We aren't as maneuverable as they are," Abbey warned.

"But we're the one with the levitator," Meyrin answered. "Chen, load all missile tubes with Parsifal missiles and prepare the Tristans and Isolde! Even if we just hit them once, that should force them to retreat!"

"Readying the weapons," Chen answered.

"Malik, prepare to close in!"

—

"Man, I hate these things," Auel grunted, as the Skygraspers closed in. "They're too damn small."

"Yeah, well, we've got the edge on them in maneuverability," Sting pointed out. "Here they come!"

The Chaos and Abyss rocketed apart, and the Abyss immediately let fly with a beam cannon barrage that forced the Skygraspers to break formation. They returned fire with beam cannons mounted on turrets, and Auel grunted in surprise as the shots slammed against the Abyss's shoulder shells.

"What the—they have mobile suit-grade beam cannons, too?" The Abyss fired back with its Callidus cannon, but the Skygraspers banked around the shot and came storming in again, pelting the Abyss with machinegun fire. "I thought these things were just Spearheads on steroids or something!"

"They were designed for the Strike!" Sting answered; the Chaos deflected a volley of beam blasts with its shield and lunged aside as three Skygraspers roared through the air. "They have an anti-MS secondary role! We need to keep them away from the _Minerva!_"

The Skygraspers wheeled around, firing again, and Auel somersaulted over them as they passed by. He whirled around to fire his solid cannons back at the three fighters, but they broke formation again and returned fire with a volley of missiles, pushing the Abyss back. The Skygraspers lined up for another beam cannon volley—

The Chaos lunged into the path, blasting back with his beam rifle and forcing them to break off again.

"The Abyss can't keep up with them!" Sting said. "You hang back and do fire support!"

"I ain't gonna sit on the sidelines!" Auel snapped. "_Go!_"

The Chaos roared into the air, beam rifle blazing as the Skygraspers lined up for another run. As they returned with their beam cannons, Auel opened fire with a beam cannon blast of his own, pounding a shot through one of the Skygraspers and blowing it apart.

"_Ha!_ Gotcha, motherfucker!" The Abyss ignited its beam lance and charged. "Let's get in close—there's nothing they can do there!"

—

Beams flashed around the Infinite Justice as it brought its boomerang blade down onto the shield of a Jet Windam. The Windam threw the Justice aside, leveling off its rifle for a killing blow—instead, Athrun ripped the rifle in two with a beam blade-assisted kick. The Windam jetted backwards, unleashing a storm of missiles—Athrun cut them down with a CIWS burst and lunged above the smoke, forcing the Windam back with a volley of beam rifle blasts as the Windam's two comrades came roaring in.

"Stella!" he cried. "Watch out—these guys are tough!"

Nearby, the Gaia Gundam opened fire with its beam rifle on three Raider Full Specs in mobile armor mode, all carrying huge sub-wing units laden with beam rifles of their own. One of the Raider Full Specs charged at the Gaia, spitting beam fire—Stella lunged down beneath it, drawing a beam saber and stabbing upwards to slice the Full Spec's sub-wing in two. The Raider Full Spec seized both of its beam rifles and abandoned the ruined sub-wing to its fiery death, reverting to mobile suit and whirling around to open fire on the Gaia. Stella effortlessly ducked aside from the shots and took off again, raining beam fire on the three Raider derivatives.

"You aren't scary!" Stella snapped. The first Raider charged in with a beam rifle blast—Stella switched back to her saber and ripped the Raider's left-hand rifle in two. An instant later, the second Raider was upon her, and sent its own sub-wing screaming forward towards the Gaia—

...only to be cut down in midair by a beam rifle barrage from the Infinite Justice. Athrun Zala descended from the heavens with a scream, ramming the second Raider aside and following up with a beam rifle volley that blew the Raider's right-hand beam rifle from its hand.

"Keep them away from the _Minerva!_" Athrun shouted. "Leave these to me! Get the Windams!"

"Will Athrun be okay?" Stella asked, even as the Windams poured beam fire after her.

"Don't worry about me," Athrun grunted. "Hurry!"

The Gaia took off towards the Windams, switching back to its beam rifle and ducking aside as the Windams opened fire again.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

The _Minerva_ quaked as its CIWS shot down a Windam's missile that had gotten a little too close for comfort. Gripping the rails painfully, Emily watched the smoke fade around the _Minerva_. She could see the shimmering wings of the Destiny Gundam as it did battle with the blindingly-fast Raider Gundam. The Raider had a huge hammer, and although the Destiny was so far able to avoid it, the margin for error was rapidly diminishing.

Another missile went down with a blaze of fire. Emily watched the Chaos Gundam leap up to stop a beam shot from one of the Skygraspers, and return fire, forcing the small white fighter to peel off and claw for distance. As the Chaos took off after its prey, Emily idly wondered what the _Minerva_'s crew really thought of her—especially since there was a perfectly operable mobile suit waiting for her in the hangar.

The feeling of obligation was strong, but that didn't stop her from putting her head in her hands and trying not to cry. They all wanted her to be a soldier, but how could she be a soldier if she was so afraid?

On the bridge of the _Minerva_, Rau sensed her anxiety and smiled.

—

"Tactically speaking, this would be a _great_ time for Emily to unexpectedly leap into the fray," Shinn grunted, as the Destiny spiraled out of the way of the Raider Gundam's relentless beam volleys. "But if she won't, I guess I'll have to find some other way to kill you!"

The Raider charged—Shinn leveled off his long beam cannon and opened fire, but the Raider ducked around the blast and continued charging. Shinn lunged down under the Raider as it snapped at him with its claws, letting the black machine pass through the Destiny's afterimages.

"Damn you!" Shoyou snapped. "Die like a man!"

The Raider whirled around, reverting to mobile suit mode, and brought its hammer down with a crash. The Destiny skirted to the side, and the Raider's hammer plowed through only an afterimage. Shoyou ducked to the side to avoid the Destiny's long cannon shot, taking off overhead.

"How could the Resistance have such powerful weapons?" he snapped. "We are the Alliance! We command the resources of the entire Earth Sphere!" The Raider transformed again into its mobile armor mode, opening its claws with a flash and snapping again at the Destiny. Shinn went hurtling back behind his beam shield as the blasts slammed against the translucent barrier.

In the Destiny, Shinn grunted as the Raider took off again, raining beam fire on the Destiny as he ducked around his enemy's shots.

_Come on, Emily, make up your mind..._

—

The Abyss unleashed a wave of beam cannon blasts on the five Skygraspers as they arced around for yet another pass. The Skygraspers broke formation, but the one on the far left was too late and went down in flames as a beam blast blew off its wing and tore open its fuselage.

"_Gotcha!_" Auel roared, triumphantly crushing the Skygrasper's cockpit with his lance as it staggered by. The Skygraspers turned to attack again—the Chaos lunged up into their line of fire and squeezed off a beam rifle shot that ripped through the Skygrasper on the far right, blowing it apart in a thunderous fireball.

"We don't have time for this shit!" Sting barked. "If we don't hurry this up, that giant Phantom Pain ship will get here, and _then_ we'll be fucked!"

Auel let fly with a volley of solid cannon shots at the Skygraspers as they raced for distance. The Skygraspers returned fire with their beam cannons, but the two Gundams blocked the shots with their shields, falling back and answering with their CIWS guns.

"Y'know what would really help? That little bitch Shinn picked up!" Auel snapped. The Skygraspers fired again—the Chaos slapped their shots aside with its shield. "I _knew_ he didn't know what he was doing!"

Sting grunted as the Chaos shook under a volley of missiles. "Either way, we're running out of time!"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"Viveka!"

The red-haired guerrilla with the mechanical arm turned at the sound of her name as she raced down the halls of the _Minerva_, on her way to the bridge. She turned at the observation deck and found Emily there, gripping the rails in terror and looking at her with wide, fearful eyes.

Viveka blinked in surprise. "What the hell are you still doing here?" she asked. "Why aren't you fighting?"

"I-I don't know what to do!" Emily protested. "Everyone wants me to be a soldier—"

"To hell with being a soldier, they want you to earn your keep!" Viveka snapped. "Can't you see we're under attack? If Shinn Asuka says you've got what it takes to be a pilot, then that's good enough for me! Get out there—he's not going to let you die and I won't either, but that's all gonna be moot if you don't go!"

"But—"

"None of that shit! I'm going to the bridge to see what I can do!" Viveka cut her off. "Do you want to die here or not?"

Emily blinked in disbelief as her sister raced off for the bridge. She looked back out towards the battle, and saw the Destiny.

—

"Damn these guys!" Athrun snarled as the Raider Full Specs' beam rifles pounded a relentless barrage against the Infinite Justice's beam shield. "They're tough!"

One of the Raiders charged at him, spewing beam blasts from its Ahura Mazda cannons. Athrun saw his chance, ducking around their blasts and sawing off the Raider's right arm and wing with a beam-bladed kick. He whirled around to open fire on his foe's exposed back, but an instant later the second Raider clamped its claws down onto its wounded comrade and took off for the _Danube_.

"Dammit," he grunted, wheeling around to face the remaining Raider. It opened fire with two beam rifles—Athrun ducked aside from the shots and leveled his rifle off to return fire.

Nearby, Stella screamed as she charged towards one of the Windams, beam saber drawn. The Windam answered her saber with its own, slamming the blades together with a crash—an instant later, Stella threw the throttle wide open and sent the Windam staggering back, just long enough to slice off its right forearm with her own saber. The damaged Windam pulled back behind its shield as its comrades covered it with beam rifle fire.

"They're not so scary!" Stella snapped, somersaulting around the Windams' beam rifle shots and firing back with her beam cannons.

More beam shots ripped through the battlefield, and Stella glanced towards them in surprise, as four more Windams rocketed by her. She swung her beam rifle around towards them, only to be forced back by more shots from the two Windams in front of her.

"_Minerva!_" Stella cried, deflecting the shots with her shield. "They're coming!"

—

"Shinn, they sent another squad of Windams!" Athrun's voice barked through the Destiny's cockpit. "Can you hit them?"

The Destiny rattled as the Raider pummeled its Phase Shift armor with machinegun rounds. "I'm gonna have to!" he shouted. "Dammit, Emily—"

The Raider roared up into the Destiny's face, hammer held high. Shoyou cackled in delight as he brought it down with a crash—Shinn desperately deployed his solid shield into its path, and grimaced as the shield was shattered like glass and the Destiny was sent careening towards the ground. "Dammit! That hammer—!"

"Shinn!" Athrun shouted.

The Destiny deflected Shoyou's killing beam cannon volley with its beam shield and took off again. Shinn glanced towards the four Windams streaking towards the _Minerva_ and swung his beam rifle up to open fire, but an instant later, Shoyou smashed the rifle out of the Destiny's hand with his hammer.

"My rifle!" Shinn snapped. "Who _is_ this guy?"

The Destiny took off, wings flashing as he fired back with his long cannon. Shoyou pursued with a beam cannon volley, cackling all the way.

"Is this how the traitor Asuka fights his battles?" he laughed. "Run all you want, and I'll still shoot you down!"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"_Move it, people!_" Abes' voice roared as he gestured impatiently from his spot on the Destiny Zero-Two's gantry. "Shinn just lost his rifle! Get it ready—no, the BAR73/S! That's the BAR71XE and it's not compatible!"

"We only have the disassembled parts!" the mechanic down below shot back. "The other BAR73/S is on the Zero-Two!"

Abes glowered up at the dormant Zero-Two. Shinn was wasting parts on this girl. "Then take the rifle off the Zero-Two and get it—"

He whirled around in surprise as he heard footsteps on the gantry, and blinked in disbelief as he saw Emily running down the gantry, towards the Zero-Two's open cockpit.

"What the hell is she doing?" the mechanic exclaimed. "Is she—"

"Are you launching?" Abes asked.

Emily glanced over her shoulder at Abes as she stopped at the cockpit hatch. "Don't take the rifle!" she said. "I'll go out!"

Abes stopped himself from sighing in relief as he turned back towards the mechanics on the floor. "Clear out! Zero-Two is launching!" He started down the gantry. "Get the gantry out of the way! Call up to the bridge!"

Inside the Destiny Gundam Zero-Two, Emily willed the sickening feeling of fear away. If Shinn Asuka could take off and fight and not feel fear, then so could she—and if she didn't want to die, it was what she had to do.

"Windam team approaching!" a voice on the bridge called out. "Captain! They have anti-ship missiles!"

"Get the CIWS ready!" Meyrin shouted. "Are there any MS free to intercept?"

Emily swallowed painfully—she did not want to die.

"I'll do it," she said.

All eyes on the bridge turned in surprise towards her image on Roxy's console.

"Let me go," Emily added. "I think I can do it."

"You _think_?" Roxy sputtered. "What, you only _think_—"

"Not the time for that, Roxy," Meyrin cut her off. "Emily, there's a squad of Windams approaching us. Nobody except you is in position to stop them—so we're counting on you."

Emily forced down another wave of fear—this was no time to panic. "Then I'll handle them. Let me go out."

"I'll leave you to Roxy, then," Meyrin said. "Good luck."

Roxy arched an eyebrow at Emily, who tried not to let the fear inside of her show. "Do you know what you're doing in there?"

"Sort of..." Emily mumbled. "Shinn made me read the tech manual—"

"Well, fine then," Roxy interrupted. "Step forward onto the catapult. Timing is all yours—launch when you're ready."

The Zero-Two shuddered as it locked into the catapult. Emily swallowed her fear again as the Zero-Two slid out into the catapult deck, and the door yawned open. Already she could she the puffs of fire and smoke from the other mobile suits—she was heading out into a war zone.

"This is Emily," she said, wincing as she heard her voice trembling as much as her body was. "I'm launching!"

Emily ground her teeth as she felt the force of the catapult slam her back into her seat, and grimaced as the Zero-Two rocketed forward. She cracked her eyes open, and found herself flying forward, straight into the face of the oncoming Windam team. With a scream, she opened fire with the Zero-Two's beam rifle—only to see the Windams scatter and go on the defensive.

"Emily?" she heard Shinn's voice exclaim. She glanced around desperately in the cockpit, finding Shinn's face on one of the auxiliary screens. "You finally launched?"

"Wha—Shinn! Where are you?" she cried.

"No, go after the Windams!" Athrun's voice cut in. "Shinn will be fine!"

Beam blasts flashed around the Zero-Two, and Emily shrieked in terror as she looked back at the Windams charging after her. She wheeled the Zero-Two around and fired back, but the shots went sailing wide, and the Windams didn't even bother putting up their shields as they fired back.

"I can't hit them!" she cried. "Shinn—"

"Don't panic!" Shinn exclaimed. "Stay calm and let your instincts take over!"

The Windams fired again—Emily fumbled around the left-hand control stick, activating the Zero-Two's beam shield an instant before the shots slammed against it. "I-I can't! I don't have those—"

"You did when you were in the Windam!" Shinn snapped. There was a crash from something on his end. "You managed to get out of Heaven's Base and all the way to Ireland! Now do it again! These guys aren't even the Devil's Swords!"

Emily forced down the fear and took off, guiding the Zero-Two around to the _Minerva_'s starboard side. The Windams followed, only to see one of their comrades ripped out of the sky by a CIWS burst. Emily felt herself seize up in fear as the Windams fired again—and once again, true to Shinn's word, instinct jerked her hands to the side, sending the Zero-Two out of harm's way, and just in time for a pair of shimmering beam blasts from the _Minerva_ to blow another Windam out of the sky.

"How am I doing this…" she whispered, and shook her head.

"Come on, Emily, fight them!" Roxy snapped. "We can't do all the work here, or they'll tear us apart!"

One of the Windams charged in close, switching to its beam saber and raising it high. Emily shrieked in terror, squeezing her eyes shut and jamming the left-hand control stick forward. The Zero-Two activated its beam shield and swatted the Windam's saber aside—Emily's eyes snapped open as she felt her right hand swing the Zero-Two's beam rifle up and fire.

The Windam disappeared in a fireball, and Emily's eyes went wide. Something horrible raced up her spine—her blood went cold as she felt something disappearing, something being ripped out of its proper place and thrown away. She stared in horror at the Windam's smoking wreckage falling towards the earth—the pilot long gone. The feeling of emptiness—of death—was this what a Newtype felt?

"Emily!" Shinn's voice cried, slicing through her thoughts, just as the Windam lined up for a killing shot above her. "Fight through the feeling!"

Emily screamed in terror, throwing the Zero-Two back as the Windam opened fire, barely ducking past its beam blast.

"Don't let the feeling stop you!" Shinn shouted.

"I-I...I killed him!" she wailed. "I killed him!"

"Yeah, now do it to the other one!" Roxy put in.

"_Shut up, Roxy!_" Shinn roared, with enough force to silence even the red-haired comm officer. "Emily, stay with us! Fight through it! You can get through this!"

"I-If I kill the other one—" Emily started. "I can't!" She swung up the Zero-Two's rifle and opened fire on the remaining Windam, forcing it back behind its shield and blowing its beam rifle out of its hand. "This...this feeling! What's this feeling?"

"Don't let it stop you!" Shinn repeated. His image was broken by static for a moment, before his flashing crimson eyes returned. "You can get through it!"

The Windam drew its beam saber and charged. Emily's eyes went wide as she watched time slow in front of her—the Windam sent its saber hurtling forward, towards the Zero-Two's waist—a bolt of white energy tore through the air in front of her—

With a flash and a scream from its shuddering pilot, the Zero-Two somersaulted over the Windam, letting its beam saber slash catch nothing but air. The Windam whirled around for another blow—just in time for the Zero-Two to drive its left-hand palm cannon into the Windam's cockpit.

The Windam died in a thundering blast of fire. Across the battlefield, Shoyou snarled furiously as he watched the last Windam in the team explode.

"Dammit," he growled. "They have a second Destiny unit and everything! Intel had nothing on this!"

"Colonel, our mobile suits are reporting damage!" Reinhardt protested. "If we keep this up—"

"I know!" Shoyou snapped. "Goddammit..._all units, retreat!_"

The Raider took off with a roar, angling back towards the _Danube_ with its comrades not far behind. Shinn watched it go in surprise for a moment, before glancing back at the vortex of emotions radiating from the Destiny Zero-Two. He guided the battle-scarred Zero-One towards it, wincing at the intensity of the emotions its pilot was throwing out.

"Emily," he began, "they're retreating. Good job." He paused and tried to force down the feeling of regret as the monitor displayed only the girl's tear-streaked face, eyes clamped shut. "Are you alright, Emily?"

Emily opened her shimmering, teary eyes, looking painfully at Shinn.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, "but...I don't want to be useless."

—

To be continued...


	7. Phase 07: Wings of Light

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 07 - Wings of Light

—

**February 27th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany**

The Destiny Zero-Two had already found its way back to its brace in the _Minerva_'s hangar when Shinn backed the Destiny Zero-One into its usual place and shut down his battle-worn Gundam. Shinn glanced over towards the Zero-Two, where the Gundam's thick Phase Shift hide could do nothing to stop the torrent of emotions coming from its pilot. He thought back bitterly to the battle in the Indian Ocean a lifetime ago, where he had tried to shoot down the Alliance's Dagger Ls and found himself stopped in his tracks by the inexplicably terrifying feeling of death.

Four years later, he had gotten used to it, but he steeled himself nonetheless. Through Emily, he would be experiencing it all over again.

The Destiny Zero-One's hatch slid open, and Shinn Asuka emerged with a sigh. He turned towards the Zero-Two as its own hatch opened, only to watch in surprise as Emily jumped out and took off down the gantry, tears in her eyes.

Abes blinked in surprise as he came up next to Shinn, watching the _Minerva_'s youngest pilot disappear into the ship. "What's wrong with her?"

Shinn's eyes darkened. "You remember a battle we fought in the Indian Ocean in '73? I ramped up the Impulse's thruster outputs far enough to knock myself out from the G-forces?"

"Yeah," Abes said, throwing Shinn a sidelong glance. "You almost totaled a Force Silhouette in the process."

"During that battle is when my powers began to manifest themselves," Shinn explained. "I could sense the deaths of enemy pilots as they were killed. It kinda drove me crazy." He glanced up towards the face of the Zero-Two. "That's what happened to Emily. Newtypes have their own growing pains."

Shinn glanced over at Athrun as he emerged from the Infinite Justice, next to the Destiny. Athrun looked up at the Zero-Two and sighed.

"Shinn," he said, "is she really meant to be a pilot?" He looked back at Shinn. "I know the feeling was hard for you at first. It was hard for me too, and my powers aren't as sensitive as yours. But you and I were trained by ZAFT to deal with the concept of death on the battlefield. She wasn't. Is she really fit to be a soldier?"

"ZAFT assumed when they trained us that killing people wouldn't be as personal for us as it is," Shinn replied. "So I guess you could ask the same question of either of us."

Athrun glanced at the door Emily through which Emily had disappeared. "I guess."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried **_**-class carrier plane **_**Danube**_**, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany**

_So much for the glory_, Shoyou thought bitterly as he landed the straining Raider Gundam. It had managed to keep up with the dreaded Destiny, but only after its pilot had pushed it to its maximum—and he doubted that Shinn Asuka would underestimate him next time.

"We've pulled back out of the _Minerva_'s visual range," Reinhardt reported on the Raider's screen as Shoyou guided his machine back into its brace. "We can still follow them by radar, though."

"That will do," Shoyou grunted. "To think we were defeated by another Gundam...why didn't Intel let us know about that one?"

"They're working on it now from some high-def photos we managed to get during the battle," Reinhardt answered. "Preliminary analysis is that it's built from spare parts. But the pilot didn't exhibit the skills that the Destiny usually does."

"Surely you don't meant to suggest that they built a unit like the Destiny, out of spare parts for Asuka's Destiny, and gave it to an amateur?" Shoyou sputtered. "That thing took down two of my Windams and you're telling me it's an amateur?"

"Captain Sven Cal Bayan had a theory on that as well, sir," Reinhardt added, his face flashing nervousness for a moment not brief enough to keep Shoyou from detecting it. "A few days ago a Resistance fighter infiltrated Heaven's Base, hacked into the base mainframe, and packed the stolen data onto a sixteen-year-old girl from the domestic servants' quarters. She fled in a Windam, managed to evade the Devil's Sword Team, and was saved more than once by the Destiny. Intel suggests that they were traveling together, the Destiny seemed pretty intent on protecting her, and the skills exhibited aren't consistent with the other two pilots they know the _Minerva_ picked up. Captain Bayan's hunch is that they're having her pilot that thing."

"_What?_" Shoyou shouted. "You mean my victory was stolen from me by a _sixteen-year-old girl!_"

"Uh, that's Captain Bayan's hypothesis, sir," Reinhardt pointed out. "Maybe you should talk to him about it—"

"_Get our mobile suits repaired at once!_" Shoyou roared. "This is unbelievable! I was thrown back by a _child!_"

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany**

"This little servant girl with the guardian angel is getting more and more interesting," Danilov intoned, arms crossed as Sven finished his explanation on the bridge of the _Charlemagne_. "But the Black Wolf and the pilot of that white GuAIZ that helped destroy the 21st Patrol Group would probably have done better." He glanced at Sven. "Were you captain of this ship, what would you do?"

"My estimation is that we should attack at once," Sven said. "Colonel Shoyou was unable to stop the _Minerva_, but we have yet to face them in a true engagement of our choosing, with this vessel's full power and complement."

"I agree," Danilov said, returning his gaze out the bridge windows. "Vera, order the MS squadrons to prepare for aerial combat. Helm, engage the afterburners—we'll catch up with the _Minerva_ and destroy that ship once and for all!"

"Captain," Sven added, "in the interest of guaranteeing victory, I also suggest that we contact the _Danube_ and coordinate this assault with Colonel Shoyou, to the extent that he cooperates."

"To the extent that he cooperates," Danilov replied. "He doesn't appear inclined to do so, but it doesn't hurt to try. Comm, get me a line to the _Danube_. I'm sure the Sky Samurai is itching for a rematch with the Wings of Light."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Lower Saxony, Germany**

They disappeared.

That was the only conclusion Emily could come to as she tried to grasp the feeling that had ripped into her mind like a wolf and scattered all her other thoughts and fears about piloting a mobile suit. She had thought that all she would have to contend with was the fear of her own death—but now she had to fear the deaths of her enemies as well. And how could she fight like that? The logical center of her brain was still functioning enough to point out to the rest of the frightened girl that merely disabling a mobile suit while preserving the pilot's life was much more difficult than outright destroying it—and it wasn't as though she was very good at piloting a mobile suit to begin with. Unfortunately, that little fact was simply making her shiver harder in fear.

Emily started up in fear at the sound of a knock on the door, but a moment later, it slid open and the suddenly intimidating face of Shinn Asuka was there.

"Did you sense me?" he asked. Emily stared at him in confusion for a moment before she dumbly shook her head. "That power will develop soon. It's kind of convenient." He closed the door behind him. "I just came to see how you were doing. When I first went through this, I woke up in sickbay and got a speech about higher purposes and new world orders."

Emily vaguely wondered if Shinn was going to give her such a speech. "What...what was that feeling?"

Shinn closed his eyes pensively. "That feeling was death," he said. "The best way I can describe it is that human life exerts pressure on our minds. Newtypes exhibit more pressure than regular humans. But since we're always around regular humans, we don't really notice their pressure—not until they're gone. And when someone dies, they take all of their emotions and consciousness with them." He shook his head. "And that's something we don't like."

"Then how can I fight like this?" Emily asked. "I thought all I had to worry about was my own death, not everyone else's."

"You'll get used to it," Shinn said. "Sounds coldhearted, but that's the way it is." He shrugged. "These powers mean suffering. Gilbert Dullindal conveniently forgot to mention that in his speech to the world, but when you can feel the emotions of other people, it's a perpetual roller coaster—especially when the powers first show themselves and you aren't used to it."

Emily looked at him sullenly for a moment. "Is that why you can fight?"

Shinn shrugged again. "There are a lot of reasons why I can fight," he answered. "But those are a story of their own, and wouldn't help you much. And that's what I came here to do. Nobody offered me that helping hand when I started developing this weird sensitivity to everything, and I don't want anyone else to go through that again."

Emily stared down at the floor in defeat. "Is there...is there a way to get rid of these powers?"

Shinn smiled sadly. "If Newtypes could get rid of their powers," he said, "then there would be no Newtypes."

—

"The Chaos just has nicks and scratches," Vino Dupre said, glancing over a clipboard as he leaned against the railing of the Chaos's gantry with Sting, Auel, and Athrun. "There's nothing major, so we're not going to buff out the dents if we don't have to. They need a bunch of us to work on the Zero-One's new rifle, and whoever's not repairing the units we have now is working on the Legend and Savior." He glanced pointedly at the two half-complete husks in the corner nearest the spare part containers. "I tell you guys, it's a pain going through every component and upgrading the internals."

"Eh, the extra firepower should be worth it," Sting pointed out with a shrug. "That Black Wolf chick must be a reasonably formidable pilot to have the reputation she does, and Mr. Facemask over there was a ZAFT ace, so that would lead one to conclude that he has at least some idea of what he's doing."

"That's what you'd think," Vino said. "'cept the golden girl over there kind of screws that logic up."

All four of them turned their eyes towards the Destiny Zero-Two, next to Shinn's battle-scarred Destiny Zero-One.

"Still," Vino continued, "I won't hold it against her. I get the impression this all sort of happened against her will. I'll hold it against Shinn. This was _his_ idea."

"Must be one of those Newtype things," Auel added. He blinked and glanced over at Athrun. "Uh, no offense."

"Emily is a Newtype," Athrun put in. "I can feel that telltale pressure from her. But I don't know if she can do this." He cast a burning glare towards the incomplete Legend. "And there are worse people to worry about anyway." He looked back at Vino. "But I'm going to trust Shinn's judgment on Emily. His powers are far more sensitive than mine, and he was the one who guided me through the awakening of my powers as well."

"_You_ can trust him," Vino spat, getting up to leave, "but _I_ don't have to."

Vino marched off down the gantry, leaving Sting, Auel, and Athrun behind to share an awkward silence.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Brandenburg, Germany**

"Colonel Shoyou," Danilov said, sitting back in the captain's chair of the _Charlemagne_ and eyeing the irritated-looking Japanese man on the screen carefully. "I understand that our intended cooperative assault didn't come out very cooperatively, so I suggest we give this another go. Agreed?"

"The more forces, the better," Shoyou said through clenched teeth.

"Precisely," Danilov said. "We're working together this time, colonel. Our enemy is the _Minerva_, not each other." He paused, letting that sink in—although Shoyou did not look amused. "At any rate, we're going to launch our mobile suit force and send it ahead of us to hit the _Minerva_ from behind. You will have to swing around from the front and hit them there. If this all works as planned and we all get along, we'll be able to trap the _Minerva_ and snap them in two."

"Then I look forward to our victory, captain," Shoyou said coldly. "Shoyou out."

The screen went dark, and Danilov heaved a sigh. "I thought our enemy was the Resistance," he grumbled. "Helm, flank speed—we're going to catch the _Minerva_ or burn out trying! The MS teams will launch in twenty minutes!"

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried**_**-class carrier plane **_**Danube**_**, Brandenburg, Germany**

"Colonel," Reinhardt said, looking simultaneously nervous and annoyed, "is this really wise?"

Shoyou closed the collar seal of his standard-issue Alliance flight suit, holding the helmet loosely in one hand as he turned. "I'm not going to let the Phantom Pain bag the most illustrious prey I've ever had in my talons," he said pointedly. "If I can use them to pin down the _Minerva_ and its other machines while I destroy the Destiny and its little doppelganger, then so much the better. But we of the regular forces have been asked and made to lay down our lives for those black-coated bastards, and now we finally have a chance to make them respect us."

"I understand, sir," Reinhardt said, "but this infighting might cost us our chance to take down the _Minerva_. If we aren't able to coordinate our assault with the _Charlemagne_, the _Minerva_ could take advantage of that gap."

"There will be no need," Shoyou said. "This attack is coming right on the heels of our first strike. They will be off balance." He pulled on the helmet and turned to face Reinhardt again, leaving only his eyes visible behind the half-masked helmet's front. "Coordinate with the Phantom Pain if you so desire, captain, but not at the cost of our kill. I leave command of the _Danube_ to you."

Shoyou stalked out of the locker room, leaving Reinhardt to shake his head in disbelief.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Brandenburg, Germany**

"All I'm saying is that Carlos Mencia was only funny if you were Mexican," Roxy said. "I mean, at least everyone could laugh at Chris Rock."

At the sensor console, Burt Heim did his best to suppress a sigh. Roxy and Chen had been arguing for what seemed like hours about everything under the sun, from whether AD 2013 or AD 2045 vintage wine was better, to the exact religious purpose of the _Kama Sutra_, to early twenty-first century stand-up comics. It was starting to drive him insane—largely because he was more of a George Carlin man. But at this point, even an attack by the Alliance would be a welcome diversion—because at least Chen would have to shut up and fire all the guns and Roxy would have all of the mobile suit pilots to bitch at instead.

"Well, of course he's not funny to _you,_" Chen shot back. "You didn't grow up in the context—"

"Oh, fuck your context," Roxy cut him off. "If all you're telling is inside jokes, then you must suck."

Burt blinked as his console began to beep, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he sent a quick thank-you up to God. "What...the _Charlemagne_ is launching mobile suits!"

"They are?" Chen exclaimed. "Shit! Roxy, call the captain—damn Phantom Pain must be working hard!"

Moments later, the bridge doors opened, and Meyrin and Abbey stormed through. Meyrin leapt into the captain's chair, pulling on her cap and glancing over her shoulder. Behind her, Rau Le Creuset calmly stepped onto the bridge and took his seat.

"Shield the bridge!" Meyrin ordered. "All hands, Condition Red! Mobile suit pilots, stand by to launch!"

—

"I know tuning this thing is a bitch," Shinn said, leaning into the Destiny Zero-Two's cockpit, "but we don't have time for this right now." He looked up at Emily as she fastened the cockpit seat's restraints. "This will be your first real battle. Nervous?"

"It doesn't really matter," Emily murmured.

Shinn glanced over his shoulder as one of the mechanics shouted something towards the activating Gaia Gundam. "What are you going to call this unit?"

Emily looked down at the cockpit controls. "I'll think about it," she said.

Shinn studied her face for a moment before he nodded. "Then let's go." He took off down and leapt into the Zero-One's cockpit as the mechanics began to retract the gantry. Emily glanced at Shinn's Destiny Zero-One, as it stepped into the starboard catapult.

"A soldier who's afraid of the deaths of enemies...how can I fight like this...?" she mumbled.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny Zero-One, _launching!_"

In front of her, the Destiny Zero-One took off with a roar. Emily stepped forward as the catapult retracted to receive her, feeling slightly more confident about guiding the thing into position now that she had done it before. The Zero-Two rattled as the catapult locked onto the mobile suit, lowering it into position and leaving Emily to stare into the twilight sky before her.

"Getting your MS combat cherry popped for real, I see," Roxy said with something resembling an amiable grin. Emily struggled to return it. "Destiny Zero-Two, you're clear. Launch when ready."

Emily swallowed—now or never.

"Emily von Oldendorf, Destiny Zero-Two...launching!"

—

"Colonel, the two Destiny units have been launched," one of the _Danube_'s bridge crew reported. Shoyou scanned the skies for a sign of the wings of light. "But, sir, one of them has changed..."

Shoyou caught sight of the two Destiny units and frowned. One was the same color as usual, but the other had turned black, with spots of yellow and red, and blazing sky-blue eyes.

"At least now we can tell them apart," he said. "All units, attack the _Minerva_'s mobile suits! Leave the two Destiny units to me!" The Raider thrust forward, its comrades not far behind.

Inside the Destiny Zero-One, Shinn glanced over at the Zero-Two. This would be Emily's first real battle, yes—but it looked as though their foe would be that formidable pilot in the Raider Gundam, a pilot skilled enough to keep up even with Shinn.

And, Shinn mused bitterly, _he_ was the one who could see the future.

"Emily," he said, "hang back and let me get in this guy's face. Attack from afar—he's good."

"I'm not totally useless," Emily protested.

"Yeah, well, get close to this guy and you will be," Shinn warned. "If someone else asks for help, go give them a hand. I'll be fine on my own if need be." The Orb Marauder flashed a grin. "Besides, I _do_ need to justify my many nicknames."

Up ahead, the Raider opened fire on the two Destiny units in mobile armor mode. They both rocketed apart—Shoyou grinned at the black Destiny as it faltered.

"You must be the weakest link, black Destiny!" he laughed. "So _you will be the first to die!_" The Raider swept down after the Zero-Two, beam cannons blazing. Emily screamed in surprise, deflecting the shots with her beam shield and whirling around as the Raider roared past.

"He's going after me!" she cried. "Shinn—"

"They're more perceptive than I thought," Shinn grunted. "If he's focused on you, it means he's not focused on me! Keep him distracted!"

The Raider wheeled around for another pass, only for the Zero-One to open fire with its beam rifle, forcing the Raider to peel off. Shoyou snarled a curse.

"Of course, something will have to be done about _you_ as well," he snapped. "So let this be the end of the Wings of Light!"

Emily looked on in disbelief as the Raider transformed into its mobile suit mode. "It changed into a Gundam!" she exclaimed. "Shinn—!"

"Don't be distracted!" Shinn cut her off. "Fire!" The two Destiny units fired again with their beam rifles, forcing the Raider back on the defensive—Shoyou brought his hammer around with a scream, forcing the Zero-One to duck underneath it. He leveled off his beam cannon at the Zero-Two—Emily jerked the controls to the side, and the Zero-Two lurched out of the path of Shoyou's killing blast.

"Dammit!" Shoyou snapped, diving backwards as the Zero-One opened fire again. "Harker, Lee, get over here and keep Asuka busy! I'll take out the black one!"

The Raider fell back, showering the Zero-One in beam shots. Shinn grunted as the bolts pounded against his beam shield. "Emily, what the hell are you doing? Shoot him!"

Emily swung up the Zero-Two's beam rifle to open fire, but a moment later the Raider preempted her with a beam cannon blast of its own, forcing her to take cover behind her beam shield. Shinn glanced to the side in surprise as the familiar feeling of danger popped up—and a wave of beam blasts and machinegun rounds forced him back as two Raider Full Specs roared in, guns blazing.

"What the—?" The Raider Full Specs circled around him, deploying missiles. Shinn scowled and cut them down with a CIWS burst, lunging over the Raider Full Specs' heads. "They're focusing on me..." He glanced back. "And Emily...that one's going after her!"

—

"One of those Destiny units has had a makeover," Shams pointed out, as the Verde Buster and Blu Duel rode into battle on sub-wing units on the flanks of the Strike Noir, at the head of a squadron of Dark Windams. "It's all black now. Kinda fetching."

"And the Shoyou unit has already attacked," Mudie added. "Shoyou doesn't appear to be very good at this whole 'getting along' thing."

"Captain Danilov needs to be more forceful in using his authority in the Phantom Pain," Sven said. "We will attack the _Minerva_'s mobile suits. I will handle the first Destiny unit, and leave the second to Shoyou."

"Oh, out for revenge, are we?" Shams chuckled. "I haven't forgotten that he shamed you after the raid on Heaven's Base, _mon ami_."

"That is irrelevant," Sven said shortly. "Move out."

The mobile suits roared apart, and Sven narrowed his eyes on the Destiny Gundam as it fought off a pair of Raider Full Spec units. One of the Raiders came charging in, beam cannons blazing—the Destiny whirled down underneath it, thrusting its ignited anti-ship sword up into the Raider's path and sawing it in two. Even as the bisected Raider exploded, the Destiny rocketed up into the air, squeezing off a shot from its long range beam cannon that speared the second Raider through the cockpit, wiping it out in a blaze.

Sven clenched his teeth, opening fire with his beam pistols, only to see the Destiny whirl around to smack his shots aside with its beam shield. The Destiny charged, sword upraised—Sven switched to one of his own beam swords and swung back, and the two mobile suits crashed together with a shower of sparks, swords locked.

The Noir surged forward, throwing the Destiny back, but that only gave the Destiny room to dodge the follow-up blast from the beam pistol in the Noir's left hand. The Destiny took off, leaving a trail of afterimages—Sven squinted through them and opened fire again, but the Destiny once more slithered through the attacks and let its afterimages take the brunt of the blows.

Sven hefted his sword and followed.

—

"The RGX-01 Chaos and -02 Abyss are no pushovers," Merau warned as the IWSP Windam cruised forward, with Grey's Slaughter Windam by its side. "They were responsible for that disaster at Scapa Flow in '75."

"You keep telling me all these terrible things that they did in the past," Grey said eagerly, "but you never point out how we can beat these guys!" He flashed a grin. "And that's what we're gonna do!"

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you," Merau groaned. "I'll take the Abyss—go!"

Grey opened fire on the Chaos as he stormed in—the green Gundam effortlessly ducked aside from his shots and returned fire. Grey grinned expectantly as he dodged the Chaos's return fire, letting some of its shots slam against his shield. They were Gundams, but they weren't invincible—and, as Grey opened fire again, he intended to prove just that.

Inside the Chaos, Sting grunted in annoyance as the Slaughter Windam opened fire. More Dark Windams, most of them with Jet Strikers, were approaching as well—three of them split off and joined the Slaughter Windam in attacking the Chaos. Sting took cover behind his shield and fired off a volley of missiles to keep them all back.

"They're ganging up on me," he grunted. "Auel!"

Nearby, the Abyss Gundam quaked as the IWSP Windam, flanked by a trio of Jet Windams, showered the ZAFT amphibious Gundam with shell fire and missiles. Auel glared through the smoke at the four black Windams, charging forward and drawing swords or beam sabers to make the kill.

"I'm not that easy, assholes!" he shouted—the Abyss ripped the cloud apart with a burst of exhaust and fired back with its solid shells, smashing them into the four Windams' shields and throwing them all back. The Abyss charged at the first target in front of it, stabbing forward with its beam lance—the IWSP Windam parried the blow with its anti-ship sword, and the two mobile suits crashed together.

"Dammit!" Merau hissed, as the Windam rattled from the Abyss's Phase Shift-reinforced blow. "This Gundam...!"

—

Sparks flew as the Blu Duel slammed its beam saber down onto the Gaia Gundam's saber. Inside the Gaia, Stella's eyes flashed furiously at her sub-wing-wielding foe. "I don't think so!" she snapped—the Gaia surged forward, slamming into the Blu Duel with its shoulder and throwing the Alliance machine back.

Mudie grunted as she regained control of her machine. "An uncooperative Extended," she grunted, "cannot be allowed to exist!"

The Blu Duel snapped up its railgun and opened fire, punching the Gaia back with a cloud of smoke. Stella hacked it apart with her saber and returned fire with her CIWS, pelting the Blu Duel's Phase Shift armor and sniping the next railgun shell out of the air. The Gaia lunged through the smoke, saber upraised, and brought it down with a crash on the Blu Duel's own saber. The Blu Duel seized a trio of Stilettos from the rack on its left shoulder armor, kicking off the Gaia from its shield and hurling the Stilettos at the black ZAFT Gundam.

"You can't trick me!" Stella screamed—a CIWS burst blasted the Stilettos apart, and Stella rocketed over the smoke, firing back at the Blu Duel with her beam cannons. Mudie deflected the blows with her shield, deploying the right-hand beam gun and firing back. "You're not taking me back!"

—

"So this is Athrun Zala, eh?" Shams cackled, as he circled the Infinite Justice Gundam and pounded it with blasts from his guns. "Boy hero of the PLANTs? Took down the Strike in the Valentine War? I ain't impressed, buddy!"

Inside the Infinite Justice, Athrun grunted as the Verde Buster slammed another wave of beams into the Justice's beam shield. He squinted through the smoke. "This guy's specialty is ranged combat," he growled. "And I'm all close-range..."

The Verde Buster unleashed a torrent of missiles—Athrun cut them down with a blazing CIWS burst, ducking backward behind his beam shield as the Verde Buster followed it up with another beam rifle barrage.

"You gonna make me find you?" Shams laughed, taking off over the smoke cloud—

He yelped in surprise, activating both his bayonets to block the blow as the Justice lunged up into the Verde Buster's face, bringing its ignited beam boomerang blade down with a crash.

"Let's see you fight me when I'm this close!" Athrun snapped. He ignited the Justice's right leg blade, bringing it up for a devastating kick to the Verde Buster's exposed waist.

"You can sure as hell try!" Shams roared—the Verde Buster fired its railgun directly into the Justice's face, throwing it back and pushing it too far away for its kick to catch anything but air. "_Now die!_"

The Verde Buster leveled off its beam rifles and fired—the Justice backflipped over the shots and fired back with its subflight lifter's beam cannons, forcing Shams back on the defensive.

"You can't trick me like that again!" Athrun snapped, igniting the boomerang blade and charging again. "_Go down!_"

—

The Destiny Gundam and the Strike Noir crashed together again, swords blazing. Sven squinted through the Destiny's cloud of afterimages—many other pilots feared the wings of light, but Sven only saw an obstacle. The Noir surged forward, throwing the Destiny backwards again, and dodged the Destiny's follow-up beam cannon blast, lunging into its face and bringing its sword down with a crash onto the Destiny's blade.

Inside the dreaded Gundam, Shinn grunted in frustration—the Devil's Saber was certainly living up to his fearsome reputation. The Destiny put all its strength behind its sword, swinging the Strike Noir forward and sending it reeling backward. Before he could attack again, however, the Strike Noir holstered its beam pistol and fired a rocket anchor out of its left hand, snaring it around the Destiny's left arm.

"Dammit!" Shinn yelled; the Noir yanked its anchor line back up, jerking the Destiny up into the air, and raised its sword high over its head for a killing blow. A white bolt of energy split the air—

With a crash, the Destiny slammed its sword into the path of the Noir's blade, blocking the blow as the Noir yanked the Destiny up into range. Sven ground his teeth in frustration as the two Gundams locked together, beam blades pressed against each other, eyes burning at each other.

"Now you've got me where I work best," Shinn grunted, "_and that was a mistake!_"

The Destiny curled its fingers around the Noir's anchor line and burned through it with a palm cannon blast. With a crash, Shinn sent the Noir spiraling back with a kick to the stomach. Sven blinked in surprise as he found his left-hand anchor severed. The Destiny followed, sword upraised, and only a timely counter-slash from the Noir saved Sven from a grisly fate.

Shinn growled in annoyance, glaring at the Noir as it held him off.

"I don't have time for this..."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"Missiles approaching, captain!" Burt exclaimed.

Meyrin narrowed her eyes at the approaching missiles. "CIWS, fire!" A flurry of bullets tore the missiles out of the sky with a flash of fire. Meyrin glanced through the smoke—the _Siegfried_-class was doing little more than firing missiles, when it was capable of far more.

"The _Charlemagne_ and that _Siegfried_ are tying up our mobile suits with their own," Rau said, detecting Meyrin's confusion, "but they seem to be waiting for the _Charlemagne_ itself to arrive."

"We can't face them one on one," Meyrin murmured. And deep down, she wasn't even sure she could fight the _Siegfried_ one on one; three years in the captain's chair and she owed the _Minerva_'s survival more to its legendary complement of Gundams than to her own skills as a commander.

"The only way to break our machines free is to create a diversion," Rau continued. "Therefore, I suggest we attack the _Siegfried_ plane directly."

Abbey whirled around in disbelief in her chair. "You must be crazy!" she exclaimed. "They'll break off mobile suits or launch a second squadron if we do that! And without mobile suits of our own, we can't hold off enemy MS!"

"If we lose our own mobile suits, we're even worse off," Meyrin pointed out. "None of them are going to last forever, especially Emily." She glanced over at Chen. "Prepare the Tristans and Isolde! Target the _Siegfried_-class!"

"Tristans and Isolde ready, targeting enemy plane!" Chen replied. "Target locked!"

Meyrin narrowed her eyes at the _Siegfried_ plane. Once the _Minerva_ fired, if their first salvo failed to hit home, it would be the agonizing dance of two ships in midair, shooting at each other and aiming for a critical hit to knock the other out of the sky. And that was not something she was good at. But there was no hesitating now—all eyes were on her.

_ "_Fire!"

The _Siegfried_-class banked aside slowly as the _Minerva_'s Isolde cannons boomed, and the shells streaked by the plane's hull by a hair's breadth. The Tristans followed up the Isolde's salvo, but once again the enemy plane dodged the barrage and returned fire with its forward Gottfried cannon. It struck a glancing blow on the _Minerva_'s prow, but the laminated armor shrugged off the blast and the _Minerva_ kept going.

"Enemy plane closing in!" Burt reported. "Heat signatures indicate rise in energy to the enemy's Gottfried cannons!"

"It's closing for ship-to-ship combat," Rau added. "The plane is more maneuverable, but we have the advantage of durability and firepower."

Meyrin bit back the impulse to respond with a "yes sir" as the _Minerva_ plunged into battle.

—

"I can't beat this guy!"

Emily was almost in tears as she watched her beam shield take the brunt of the Raider Gundam's beam cannon barrage. The Raider slammed its hammer into the Destiny Zero-Two's solid shield, shattering it and sending the pieces scattering down towards the Earth. Emily winced as the Raider brought its hammer around again, and jerked the controls back, dodging with milliseconds to spare as the hammer swung through the space previously occupied by the Zero-Two's head.

Inside the Raider Gundam, Shoyou's face purpled in rage. "_You're just a little girl!_" he screamed. "You're no worthy adversary for me! Hurry up and die, so I can take the Destiny!"

The Raider lined up for a killing beam shot, only to see it spoiled by the Zero-Two's beam shield. Emily desperately scanned the Zero-Two's weapons for something to turn the tide, and switched from the beam rifle to the massive anti-ship sword, drawing it with a flash and looking up apprehensively at the Raider.

"Will this work?"

Shoyou laughed. "That heavy sword won't stop me!" He charged, beam cannons blazing—Emily yanked the controls aside and dodged the blasts, and then closed in, raising the sword high with a scream—

"Not good enough!" Shoyou cried, whirling around and smashing the Raider's hammer into the Zero-Two's sword, wrenching it from the Zero-Two's grip and sending it spiraling to earth. Emily shrieked in surprise, instinctively throwing her machine back behind its beam shield as the Raider followed up with a blast from its Zorn cannon.

"Emily!" Shinn's voice came through the cockpit speakers, broken by the sound of something crashing into something else on his end. "Take out that hammer!"

The Raider charged, hammer drawn back for a killing blow—Emily screamed in terror as instinct took over, and she fired the long rang beam cannon into the incoming hammer, blasting it apart.

"The Mjolnir!" Shoyou cried, backing up with a beam cannon blast and abandoning the useless handle. "_You little whore!_"

The Raider drew a beam saber from inside the dual beam cannon on its left arm, the golden blade shining forth as the black Gundam charged. Emily shrieked again as the saber blade slammed against her beam shield, rattling the Zero-Two.

"Emily, the beam wings!" Shinn's voice insisted again. "Use the beam wings to create afterimages and throw him off!"

"I can't!" Emily cried, backing away. She drew her beam rifle, whipping it up into position and squeezing off a shot. Her eyes widened in surprise as it streaked forward towards the cockpit—

...and her jaw dropped in disbelief as the Raider swatted the blast aside with its beam saber. "What? How could he—?" The Zero-Two rattled again as the Raider showered it in machinegun fire, charging down into its face. Emily blocked its saber blow with her beam shield, sending her staggering back. "He's...he's gonna kill me!"

—

"A rebellious Extended..." Mudie snarled, as the Gaia Gundam charged at her, beam saber raised. "You have no place in the world!"

The Blu Duel thrust its own saber forward, as the two Gundams slammed together. Mudie snapped her railgun up to fire a point-blank shell into the Gaia's torso, throwing it back—the Gaia fired back through the smoke, pelting the Blu Duel with CIWS fire and distracting Mudie before she could follow up her attack. The Gaia lunged up into the Blu Duel's face, the two Gundams' sabers crashing together.

"Gundams," Stella hissed, "you think you're so scary! I can be scary too!"

The Gaia surged forward, smashing its knee into the Blu Duel's stomach. Mudie grunted as the Blu Duel went staggering back, and blinked in surprise as the Gaia delivered a punishing kick to the face that nearly knocked her off her subflight lifter. Stella lined up for a killing beam cannon blast, but a wave of missiles came streaking towards her instead—

An instant later, the Infinite Justice Gundam was there to cut them down with a CIWS blast. Athrun Zala glanced over at the Gaia.

"Are you alright, Stella?"

"Athrun!" Stella cried. "Is Athrun okay?"

The Justice rattled as the Verde Buster slammed one of its bayonets down onto the beam shield. "Never better," Athrun grunted. "If we can take out the sub-wings, they'll be helpless!"

The Blu Duel swept in again, beam saber raised—Stella batted it aside with her shield, bringing her own saber down, but the Blu Duel was there with its own shield to stop the Gaia's deathblow. "But they're so fast...!"

"Fast, maybe," Athrun said, "_but not invincible!_"

—

Merau scowled in frustration as the Abyss Gundam scattered her three Jet Dark Windams with a barrage of beam cannons. The amount of weapons this Gundam could deploy at once was absurd—it _had_ to have a weakness.

The Abyss fired back with another volley of shells, forcing the Jet Windams back. Merau hacked through the smoke and hurled her beam boomerang at the Abyss. Inside the blue Gundam, Auel glanced furiously at it.

"You think that'll stop me?"

With a crash, the Abyss knocked the boomerang aside—and an instant later, the IWSP Windam pounded the Abyss with a blaze of cannon fire, knocking it back behind its shoulder shells.

"That Phase Shift...!" Merau growled. "Not a scratch!" She glanced over at the Slaughter Windam, where Grey was fighting the Chaos Gundam.

"You Resistance bastard!" Grey screamed, closing in with his beam saber and slamming it against the Chaos's shield. "I'll destroy you all!"

Inside the Chaos, Sting's eyes flashed. "_You can try!_"

The Chaos surged forward with a blast from its engines, throwing the Slaughter Windam back. Grey yelped in surprise, struggling to maintain control—just in time for the Chaos to lop off the Windam's arms with his beam saber.

The maimed Slaughter Windam crashed into the arms of the IWSP Windam.

"We're retreating!" Merau snapped. The Windam took off before Grey could protest, angling back towards the _Charlemagne_.

Inside the Chaos, Sting turned his attention towards the remaining Jet Windams. "Two down..."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried**_**-class carrier plane **_**Danube**_

"Captain, _Minerva_ is firing another wave of missiles!" the sensor officer cried.

Reinhardt narrowed his eyes at the approaching weapons. "Igelstellungs, intercept!" The _Danube_ replied with a wave of firepower from its Igelstellung emplacements, cutting the missiles out of the sky. "Raise pitch by fifteen degrees!"

The _Danube_ edged up towards the sky—an instant later, the _Minerva_ fired through the smoke, its Tristan cannons blazing by underneath the ascending _Danube_.

"_Minerva_ is turning to pursue!" the sensor officer reported.

"Gottfried Two and Three, target the _Minerva_'s prow!" Reinhardt roared. "If they deploy their positron cannon, we'll be destroyed!"

The _Danube_'s guns roared, but their shots missed the _Minerva_'s prow as the mighty warship ducked beneath them. It answered with another booming blast from its Isolde cannon—Reinhardt winced as one of the shells streaked by too close for comfort to the _Danube_'s bridge tower.

"The _Minerva_ is targeting our underside!" the sensor officer cried.

"All missile tubes ready, captain! Shall we fire?" the weapons officer added.

"They'll just cut them down," Reinhardt growled. "Fire the Sledgehammers anyway! We won't be defeated here!"

—

The Raider effortlessly ducked aside Emily's desperate beam rifle shots, charging in with its blazing yellow beam saber. Emily shrieked in terror as the black Gundam closed in, raising its saber high—she jammed the controls back, and the Destiny Zero-Two went hurtling back, dodging the Raider's killing slash.

"Damn you," Shoyou snarled, "you're only a child! How can you last this long?"

"I can't do this!" Emily wailed. "I'm not a soldier! I'm not a Newtype!" The Raider came charging in. "_I'm not you, Shinn!_"

Instinct flashed within her—the Zero-Two deployed its beam shield, stopping the Raider's saber slash cold.

"You have the power to win," Shinn insisted, his voice broken by static, "but you have to get over your fear!" Something rattled on his end, and he bit back a curse. "You're more powerful than this! Trust your instinct and do what feels natural!"

"I'm not like you, Shinn!" Emily cried, as the Raider surged forward and threw her back. "_I can't__—_!"

"This is the end for you, little girl!" Shoyou screamed. "_Die!_"

The Raider brought down its saber with a crash—Emily shrieked in terror as it sliced through her beam rifle, blowing it in two and sending her reeling back. The Raider charged through the smoke, saber pulled back for a killing blow, as Emily froze in fear—

"Don't let it stop you!" Shinn roared. "_Emily—_!"

Emily's eyes flashed wide—there was a tiny green seed, bursting before her in a dazzling array of colors—

And a moment later, everything was clear.

Emily watched in stunned silence as she saw the Raider swing its saber forward, towards the Zero-Two's waist. Effortlessly, she activated the Zero-Two's beam wings, filling the sky with a flash of pink translucent light. Shoyou blinked in surprise as his prey backflipped out of his range, as he swung his saber around. He turned to follow through and attack again—

With a shudder and a hideous shriek of twisted metal, the Destiny Zero-Two drew its right-hand beam boomerang, extending the blade into that of a beam saber, and sliced off the Raider's right arm at the elbow.

"My arm!" Shoyou cried. "This—!"

The Zero-Two charged, afterimages filling the sky around it. Emily screamed and slammed into the Raider with her left shoulder, throwing it back. An instant later, she slashed a long diagonal scar across the Raider's torso.

"This girl...!" Shoyou snarled. "_How!_"

The Raider whirled around and took off with a blast of exhaust, dropping combat flares behind it. Emily squeezed her eyes shut as the lights flashed around her.

Across the battlefield, Sven watched the Raider flee, trailing smoke, impassive and unimpressed. "Shoyou has underestimated that new Destiny unit," he said. He glanced towards his own black Phantom Pain mobile suits. "All Phantom Pain mobile suits, return to the _Charlemagne!_"

From inside the Destiny Zero-One, Shinn watched in surprise as the Alliance mobile suits broke off their battles with the _Minerva_'s Gundams and took off. He glanced over at Emily, feeling once more emotion radiating from inside the cockpit...but this time it was smooth, even, focused, controlled. He could tell that she had seen the seed.

"Emily," he said, as the Zero-One drifted closer to the Zero-Two, "are you alright?"

Emily looked back at Shinn, and Shinn shuddered as he saw himself in her dull, lightless green eyes.

"This power," she murmured, as the light returned. "I don't want this power."

Shinn smiled bitterly. "No one does."

The two Gundams turned and took off towards the _Minerva_.

—

To be continued...


	8. Phase 08: The Twilight Gundam

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 08 - The Twilight Gundam

—

**February 27th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried**_**-class carrier plane **_**Danube**_**, Brandenburg, Germany**

The Raider Gundam landed with a sickening crunch, staggering to a halt in the yawning hangar of the _Danube_ as the plane clawed for distance from the victorious _Minerva_. Inside, Shoyou threw his helmet off with disgust, guiding the Raider once more into its hangar brace. Defeated again, and this time that girl had personally bested him in battle. How could she have mastered mobile suit combat that quickly? To beat him, the Sky Samurai? It was unthinkable.

Reinhardt's dour face appeared on the Raider's main screen as the Windams began to land. "Colonel, the Windam force reports no casualties," he said. "What will we do next?"

Shoyou glanced furiously out the hangar doors as the _Minerva_ rocketed away. "They've humiliated me twice," he snarled, "but the third time...not again." He looked back at Reinhardt. "Get the mobile suits repaired as quickly as possible. We will not give up the chase."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Brandenburg, Germany**

The last time she had done this, Emily remembered as she guided the Destiny Zero-Two back into its hangar brace, she had been a basket case over the terrifying feeling of death on the battlefield. This time it was not so bad, but instead she was simply left to contemplate what she had become. That had been her first battle—but it had taken the appearance of that mysterious seed to damage an enemy pilot that appeared to be underestimating her to begin with. And Emily was simply surprised that there was anything in her to underestimate.

"Alright, people, move!" Abes roared from the gantry, as the Chaos Gundam shut down across the hangar. "The Zero-Two needs a new Arondight! Get the spare out of storage!"

Emily emerged onto the gantry with a sigh, blinking at the cooler air outside the cramped confines of the Destiny Zero-Two's cockpit. She glanced back inside, at the Phase Shift-protected cocoon that controlled the Gundam—and yet she could not feel safe in there.

The Destiny Zero-One's cockpit opened with a burst of steam. In that machine's cockpit, she could feel safe...but that was because the Zero-One had Shinn Asuka at the controls. Shinn himself emerged with a sigh, mopping his hair out of his face as he did.

"The Devil's Saber lives up once more to his reputation," he sighed. "But that could've been worse, I guess." He glanced over at Emily. "You managed to damage that enemy unit, though. So good work on that."

Emily stepped up to the rail, staring blankly at the Infinite Justice across the way, as its cockpit hatch opened and Athrun climbed out. "I saw a seed," she said. "It burst in front of me. Everything became clear, like I was a different person..." She squeezed her eyes shut as Gilbert Dullindal's silk-smooth voice rang in her ears again. "And...I could see the future."

Shinn nodded grimly. "The spark of a Newtype exists in everyone," he said. "When people are under extreme stress, the natural reaction of the body is to call on every reserve of strength and speed and stamina you have, in order to see you through. A mobile suit pilot needs reflexes and lightning-fast cognitive abilities, so that's what you get when you see the seed." He glanced at the other Gundams. "I can't tell you why it's a seed that we see, but I've seen it more times than I can count. So have the other pilots." He shook his head, as Emily fearfully tried to imagine Stella Loussier after she had seen the seed. "Auel calls it 'ass-kicking mode,' but Auel Neider is not a exactly a paragon of scientific inquiry. That seed is the sign of your mind tapping into its potential and bringing out your capabilities. I guess if you apply enough stress, everyone can do it—but it explains why it only happens in combat."

Emily cast her eyes towards the hangar floor. She had felt as though she was about to die—but everything had become clear, and true to the silken words of the Chairman and the Destiny's pilot, she could see the future. That was power that everyone wanted—power that she had.

"Even though it seems that everyone can do it," Shinn went on, "not so many of us can use those powers without the seed. That's why we're Newtypes. Whether they were consciously trying to or not, that's what the Earth Alliance was trying to achieve with its Extended. And that's what they would do with your powers. So that's why I brought you here, and gave you this machine. Your power is vast, and I don't want Lord Djibril abusing it or you."

Emily glanced over at Shinn. "How is the Resistance any different if I still have to fight...?" she asked.

Shinn smiled bitterly. "That's the problem," he said. "Either way, you have to fight." He turned to leave. "But as long as you're with us, if we can't do anything else, we'll treat you like a human being."

Shinn headed back towards the Zero-One. Emily watched him go bitterly, and as the sounds of the hangar rang in her ears, she wondered if she still was a human being.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Brandenburg, Germany**

Sven greeted Captain Danilov with a crisp salute on the screen of the Strike Noir, as his machine cruised in towards the _Charlemagne_'s yawning mobile suit hangar. "Another less than successful attempt, I see," Danilov said, returning Sven's salute, "but on the bright side, we are gaining valuable combat data on the _Minerva_'s units."

"Colonel Shoyou is probably preparing for a third attack," Sven answered. "And I do not think he will be attempting to cooperate with us."

"I thought not," Danilov said grimly.

"What should we do, captain?" Vera asked from the side of the captain's chair.

"I've had enough of Shoyou's uncooperative attitude," Danilov said. "We will not support the Shoyou unit's next attack. We will make our own moves instead."

"Understood," Sven answered. "Noir out." The screen went dark, and Sven sat back, glancing at the auxiliary screens, where Mudie looked bored and Shams looked annoyed.

"Man, why are we working with Shoyou anyway?" Shams sighed. "The guy's a dick."

"It can't be helped," Mudie said airily. "Since men like him think they're so powerful..."

"We will not be supporting their next attack," Sven pointed out. "So we will plan our own."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried**_**-class carrier plane **_**Danube**_**, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland**

"If we force them out over the sea," Reinhardt said as he stood next to Shoyou on the _Danube_'s bridge, with a map of the Baltic Sea spread out before them, "then the _Minerva_ has effectively unrestricted room to maneuver."

"As do we," Shoyou said.

"But they have vastly more firepower than we do," Reinhardt continued. "That positron cannon alone could do us in. And at this altitude, the gamma radiation would not do a great deal of damage to the surrounding environment."

Shoyou sniffed contemptuously, tapping a few keys on the arm of the captain's chair. A list sprung up on the main screen of Alliance units in the area; Shoyou scanned it for a moment. "The _Sevastopol_ is patrolling the waters of the Pomeranian Bay," he noted.

"But the _Sevastopol_ is a _Poseidon_-class," Reinhardt protested. "They don't carry any mobile suits."

"The _Poseidon_-class is a ballistic missile submarine," Shoyou answered. "It has a vast complement of cruise missiles. We can have those missiles deployed into the _Minerva_'s path, forcing them to evade or engage. Once they are suitably distracted, we can move in for the kill."

"During the missile strike?" Reinhardt sputtered. "But colonel—"

"We can handle that," Shoyou said dismissively.

"Colonel, we need to resupply first," Reinhardt wet on. "We lost several mobile suits in the first engagement, and aside from aerial refueling, we have not restocked our supplies."

A scowl twisted its way onto Shoyou's face. "We're on the scent, captain," he said. "To surrender that scent now would be to surrender the opportunity of a lifetime. I will not do that." He turned to leave. "Call the _Sevastopol_ and request them to launch a contingent of cruise missiles, targeting the _Minerva_. We will bring that ship down, and we don't need the Phantom Pain to do it."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland**

An airy sigh came drifting out of the cockpit of the Destiny Zero-Two as Emily pushed the control panel back up into the cockpit ceiling and sat back, stretching her legs out. Whenever she wasn't sleeping or eating, Shinn had her in the cockpit of this machine, training. On one hand, that training was probably why she had not been reduced to a cloud of dust over Brandenburg—but on the other hand, she was beginning to miss the sensation of walking around and moving like a normal human being.

Of course, that was all predicated on the notion that she was, in fact, a normal human being.

This time, Shinn had given her a respite, after only three hours of simulated matches against an army of computer-controlled opponents. She supposed that Shinn was considering this positive reinforcement for her performance against his virtual host of Dagger L mobile suits. Emily instead had Viveka leaning against the cockpit hatch jamb, her mismatched arms crossed, glancing over the inside of the machine.

"Fancy cockpit," she observed. "No cup holder, though, I see." She glanced over Emily's shoulder. "And I don't get what's with the pink seat belts either."

"I'm getting used to it," Emily murmured. She glanced tiredly around the Zero-Two's cockpit. "I'm cooped up all the time in here anyway."

"Hey, at least with all this training, the chances of getting your ass shot off continue to decrease," Viveka pointed out. "Shinn's a pretty relentless taskmaster, but it's for your own good."

Emily leaned forward, her head in her hands. "He wants me to know the specs for the Buster Dagger by tomorrow."

Viveka shrugged. "Well, look at it this way," she said. "Once you're all done with this, every boy you ever meet will be creaming his pants over how much you know about MS."

Emily looked down at the cockpit floor, blushing. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Sure! Boys look funny when they cream their pants," Viveka replied. She looked around again. "So have you decided on a name for this thing yet?"

Emily glanced up at the main control panel, retracted into the ceiling of the cockpit. All this time in here and she hadn't really tried to think up a name for what had apparently become her new war horse. But there was one word that seemed suitable…

"Twilight," she said. "Twilight Gundam."

Viveka arched the eyebrow over her remaining eye. "Twilight, eh? What for?"

"I remember seeing the sky when I was launching to fight yesterday," Emily explained, "and the sun was setting." She looked down sullenly at the floor again. "And...I kinda feel like I'm at the twilight of my life."

"You're sixteen," Viveka pointed out. "You've got another sixty years to go before you can start worrying about that."

Emily sat back tiredly. "I don't really like these machines, but if they're necessary to protect others, then I'll learn to use them."

Viveka shrugged again. "That and the hot Resistance ace is making you do it," she added.

Emily blushed again. "Well, that too—I mean, that Shinn is making me do it."

"Oh, admit it, you like him," Viveka shot back. "But hey, that's okay, lots of girls do. He's a Cosmic Era Robin Hood—y'know, if Robin Hood killed lots of people." Another shrug, as Emily tried to hide the blush. "Well, whenever they finish the Savior, I'll be going into battle on your wing." She flashed a grin. "So you'd better be able to keep up with me."

"I'll try," Emily mumbled.

—

"Bullshit, I'm telling you," Auel snarled in the crew lounge of the _Minerva_, kicked back on one of the seats with his feet up on the nearby table with a steaming mug of something or other in his hand. "Newtype or whatever, there ain't no reason to keep her around."

"Eh, cut her some slack," answered Sting from the other side of the table, propping his head up with his hand and staring down in boredom at the half-eaten sandwich in front of him. "She kinda got sucked into this against her will. And she's managed to hold up this far." He looked back up at Auel. "Besides, I thought we were going to trust Shinn."

"To protect Stella, maybe," Auel said. "But first of all, now we're here on the same ship, so we can take care of that. And secondly, Stella can probably take care of herself anyway. And _thirdly_, bringing an amateur onto the ship is a totally stupid idea."

"She managed to land a hit or two on that Raider unit," Sting offered with a shrug. "It was good enough to shake even Shinn."

"She just got lucky," Auel insisted.

"Well, does that mean you're not gonna watch her back?" Sting asked. Auel blinked, caught off guard. "I mean, whether we want her here or not, she's here. Would you let something happen to her?"

Auel sighed and flopped back onto the couch, abandoning his mug on the table. "No," he said, "but...so many people to protect."

"We're all supposed to be a team," Sting added. "So, really, it makes no difference to me. We all watch over each other." He sat back. "And that's the way it should be."

—

The computer room of the _Minerva_ was empty. That was just as well—it would not do to have people listening in on this conversation.

And, Athrun Zala thought bitterly as he felt the handgun tucked away inside his jacket, some questions were better left unanswered.

Rau Le Creuset was, of course, in the computer room chair, walls of text spread before him. Athrun stepped into the room, fighting against every instinct to draw his pistol and spray the masked man's ever-working, ever-sharp brain all over the room. Rau did not even bother turning to greet Athrun as he approached.

"And our parting was such sweet sorrow," he chuckled. "Now what can I do for you, Athrun?"

Athrun's eyes flashed, as restraint gave way and he yanked his pistol out of his jacket, putting it to Rau's head. "_You stole my friend from me,_" he snarled.

"_I_ did?" Rau chuckled, not even stopping his typing as he scanned the screen. "_You_, dear young Zala, were the one who shot down that shuttle."

"You set me up," Athrun snapped. "You corrupted his brain, you killed all his humanity, you _turned him into your little tool!_"

Rau sighed quietly, his fingers finally stopping as he sat back. "There seems to be something you still don't understand, Athrun," he said. "Of all the people on this ship, you should be the one to share my goal." He nudged the gun away from his head and glanced up at Athrun, a devilish smirk on his face. "It was human excesses that gave rise to the last two wars, as well as this one. Excess of greed, excess of power, excess of pride, excess of zeal. For all those excesses, there is waste. And when that waste is human life, then something is dreadfully wrong." He looked back at the screen. "I expected you and Shinn to understand this, of all people. You know what it is to have lost everything, to have it taken from you by the vagaries of a world that wants more than it needs or deserves. Instead of directing your hatred at the sources of that human greed, and at its symbol, you directed it at me. That is indeed strange."

"You took everything that made Kira Yamato who he was and you _killed it!_" Athrun snapped, pointing his gun back at Rau. "And you expect me to believe some abstract point about war and privilege? What the hell could justify what you've done?"

Rau smiled. "Hell itself," he answered.

Athrun scowled. "I should shoot you," he said. "You stole my friend, you turned him into a madman who would kill his own sister, his own friends, because you told him to."

"You presume, Athrun, that it was I who pulled the strings of our puppet named Kira," Rau chuckled. "I did not. Kira's leash is clenched in a far more feminine hand than mine. There is a certain sort of irony that the death of his angel led him into the arms of a succubus. But if you really would like to see who remade Kira Yamato, you should try looking up the name Valentine."

"You bastard," Athrun growled, cocking the pistol.

"Do you really want to do that?" Rau asked. "Do you really think blowing my brain out will unlock all of its evil little secrets?" He gestured towards the screen. "The world is changing. Do you really think the mind of someone who has stood above it and watched it and molded it is not valuable enough to be preserved? And," he cracked a wicked grin, "didn't your captain ask you not to do this?"

Athrun ground his teeth, glowering down at the masked phantasm.

With a snarl, he shoved his gun back into his jacket and stalked away, and Rau only laughed.

—

"Emily is still scared," Stella observed. On the _Minerva_'s external deck, Shinn glanced over at her, as she stared emptily in the direction of the sea. Stella looked over at Shinn. "Is something scary going to get her?"

Shinn did his best to smile back reassuringly. "Not if I can help it," he answered, shaking his head. "She has powers that she doesn't understand, so it scares her." He looked up back towards the horizon. "We're all afraid of what we don't understand. And that's why I want to protect her. So she can use those powers."

Stella was quiet for a moment. "...will Shinn still protect Stella...?" she asked.

Shinn looked over at her in surprise. "Of course I will," he said, offering another smile. "Even if it's just the two of us, I'll always protect you." He looked away again. "But I know what Emily is going through. I went through it myself. But nobody else understood it when I went through it. Now I can help someone else go through it."

Stella cast her shimmering eyes back towards the horizon. "...Shinn is a good friend..."

Shinn smiled bitterly. "We'll see about that."

—

**February 28th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance **_**Poseidon**_**-class ballistic missile submarine **_**Sevastopol**_**, Pomeranian Bay, Baltic Sea**

"Christ," the XO muttered as he read the paper in his hand over again. "The _Minerva_. Of all the ships..."

The captain of the _Sevastopol_ sat back in his chair on the _Sevastopol_'s conn. The message had come through from the _Danube_ during the night that Colonel Shoyou, the Sky Samurai, was requesting the _Sevastopol_ launch a complement of cruise missiles, targeting them at the _Minerva_ itself, to distract the mighty warship so Shoyou could attack it. The captain doubted that the plan would work, but he was technically outranked by the Lieutenant Colonel—and at any rate, it was a chance to add his name to history if it did indeed work.

"Captain," the XO said, "are we going to comply?"

The captain sniffed in annoyance. "Of course we are," he said. "What kind of soldiers are we if we back away from a fight just because of who the enemy is?" He sat up. "Order all hands to prepare to surface. Get me missile command. We'll give them Pattern Delta of the Storm Eagles."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland**

The sounds of mechanics yelling at each other and metal on metal had blended into a muffled roar by the time they reached the ears of Grey Saiba, leaning tiredly against the loading gantry rail and staring at his Windam as it was once again repaired, with Merau by his side.

"The Resistance isn't taking me very seriously," he sighed. "I should be better than this."

Merau glanced him, squinting for a moment as someone used a blowtorch. "You're only one pilot," she said, "and not too many people can say they survived a battle against the _Minerva_." She shrugged. "Just don't underestimate them. They're all veterans of the Junius War, and if you survived _that_, you were either very lucky or very good."

Grey sniffed contemptuously. "They're still a bunch of terrorists," he scoffed.

"Terrorists they may be," Merau replied, "but they're excellent pilots, and if you underestimate them again, you'll get killed." Grey glanced at her in surprise as she paused, looking up at the hangar ceiling sadly. "And...I wouldn't want that."

"Hey," Grey started, "this isn't Sofia. You've been trained by the Phantom Pain. You don't have to worry about that anymore."

"I don't have to worry about myself," Merau corrected. "But on the streets of a war-torn city, with your best friend dying in your arms with his face shot off..." She sighed heavily. "It kinda makes you look at human life differently."

"Well, now you're in the Phantom Pain," Grey said awkwardly. "They can't do that to you again. And you know this is what Stefan would have wanted you to do."

"I guess," Merau mumbled. "But just don't go doing something stupid, okay? I don't like losing friends."

Grey flashed a cheeky grin. "Do I look stupid to you?"

Merau smiled back knowingly. "I won't even touch that one."

—

Information was certainly not sparse, Sven noted as he scanned the records before him on the screen of his computer terminal. As a Phantom Pain officer, he had access to the databanks of Heaven's Base itself, although he lacked the security clearance to see some of the Phantom Pain's most fearsome secrets. But it was not the Phantom Pain's secrets that were interesting him.

The Phantom Pain had vetted every domestic servant in the household staff of Lord Djibril, ensuring that each and every one would only pay attention to household duties, ensuring that there were no spies and assassins in their midst. As a result, the domestic servants all had fairly lengthy dossiers detailing what appeared to Sven to be uneventful or uninteresting lives. Another girl taken from the war-shattered streets of Novgorod—that mattered nothing to Sven.

But as he reached the file for Emily von Oldendorf, there _was_ nothing.

Sven frowned. A gap in information was unusual for the Phantom Pain. He glanced over what little information there was—mostly physical description, with a few pieces of background. He noted that her father was Gerhardt von Oldendorf—Sven recalled him to be a Eurasian Federation Ministry of Defense official, now part of the Earth Alliance as some high-level bureaucrat in the Department of Procurements. And he had familial ties that stretched back into Germany's medieval history, which, Sven supposed, was where he and his daughter had gotten the aristocratic preposition _von_ into their names. It was certainly odd to see a household slave with the mark of nobility.

But odder still was the lack of information on this little girl. And Sven did have to wonder why Emily was slaving away in the palace of Lord Djibril, while Gerhardt reaped the rewards of a high position. Did father and daughter not stay together?

Every question led to two more. Sven pushed it out of his mind as Shams and Mudie entered his room.

"Shit, Sven," Shams grunted, "what are you doing in here, looking at porn?"

Sven ignored the remark with expert experience as Mudie giggled. "The next time we fight the Destiny Gundam, we will need a plan to take it down," he said. "By studying the Destiny's combat data, I believe we can find patterns in its moves that we can exploit."

"Sounds great," Shams said with a thumbs-up. "Can I opt out and get the notes later?"

"Let's get to work," Sven said instead. "The Destiny has humiliated the Phantom Pain enough."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Gulf of Gdansk, Baltic Sea**

Another day, another shift on the bridge of the _Minerva_ for Burt Heim. Abbey and Meyrin had disappeared for dinner—Burt had opted to take his to the bridge with him, and had a well-secured cup of soup and starchy imitation ramen by his side as he waited for something to happen on the scanners. So far the _Siegfried_-class and the _Charlemagne_ did not appear to be doing much more than following them, but who knew how long that would last.

He leaned back, sucking down another mouthful of soup and noodles that the _Minerva_'s galley only had on hand because it came cheap in bulk and only required the addition of hot water to be edible—to use the term very loosely. He dug out the crucifix underneath his shirt, strung onto a chain around his neck, and gazed down at it. A religious Coordinator wasn't something one saw every day, and he supposed that he owed his immortal soul another prayer for the strength of God to see the _Minerva_ through its next fight. There were already many people across the Earth Sphere who thought that the _Minerva_ and its crew and its star pilot were sent by God, if not divine themselves, but all Burt asked was for the Almighty to lend him strength to do his job. He was the eyes of the _Minerva_, and that meant asking God to keep his own eyes sharp. There had to be a God up there, anyway, because otherwise the universe was cruel enough to snuff out his family and his homeland in a blinding flash of light for no reason.

He put his crucifix back and set his soup aside as the scanners began to beep. On the other side of the bridge, Roxy turned, eyebrow arched. "What the hell is that?"

Burt studied the heat signature for a moment. "They're missiles," he said. "The Mk15/A Storm Eagle cruise missile." He glanced over at Roxy. "They're a ways out, but it looks like they're heading for us. Better call the captain."

"Okay," Roxy said, reaching for the intercom, "but just missiles?" She raised the receiver to her lips. "Captain Hawke, requesting your presence on the bridge." She glanced back at Burt. "How many?"

Burt blinked in surprise. "...thirty," he said.

"_Thirty?_" Roxy echoed. She brought the intercom up again. "Captain Hawke, we've get a problem, so if you wouldn't mind hurrying on up here..."

Rau Le Creuset was the first to stride onto the bridge this time, followed a few moments later by Meyrin and Abbey. Meyrin leapt down into the captain's chair, adjusting her cap. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Thirty Storm Eagle cruise missiles approaching to port," Burt reported.

"Just missiles?" Abbey asked, glancing at Meyrin. "Our CIWS could take those down easily."

"Any modern CIWS emplacement could," Rau pointed out, settling into his typical chair. "I doubt the Alliance would launch an attack as simple as a volley of cruise missiles. Captain, may I suggest preparing the mobile suits for combat."

"Roxy, get on that," Meyrin said, silently steeling herself. It was time to be the captain again. "Shield the bridge and go to Condition Red."

—

The cockpit hatch slammed shut, and Emily pushed down her fear as she pulled down the Twilight Gundam's console. All she knew was that something was going on, and the ship was going to Condition Red—which meant she had to stand by in her machine, and be ready to launch if needed.

She glanced over the controls and activated the mobile suit squadron's transmission frequency—all those hours in the cockpit training were starting to pay off, she guessed. "Shinn...?"

Emily watched for a moment as Shinn fastened the Destiny's restraints. To think that this man who had protected her was simultaneously a hero and villain across the Earth Sphere...

"What is it?" Shinn asked. Emily blinked in surprise, noticing in the cockpit display that she was blushing, and tried to hide her face.

"W-What's going on? Why are we on Condition Red?"

"The Alliance targeted the ship with a volley of cruise missiles," Shinn explained, arching an eyebrow at her. "We've been told to stand by in case they're attacking with anything more than missiles."

"CIWS firing!" Roxy cut in. "Plug your ears, kids!"

There was silence for a moment, and then a thundering explosion roaring through the air as the _Minerva_'s CIWS emplacements gunned down the first missile.

"What the hell?" Auel screamed from the Abyss's cockpit. "Can't you guys shoot them down further away than that?"

"Quit your bitching!" Roxy shot back. "At least it didn't hit us!"

"The _Siegfried_-class is approaching as well," Burt's voice cut in, "and it's launching its mobile suits!"

"As I thought," Rau said. "The missiles are a cover to distract us while the _Siegfried_ carrier moves in."

"We've beaten this plane twice," Meyrin said, "so we can do it again. Mobile suits, launch!"

As the Gundams stomped towards the catapults, the Destiny cast a glance towards the Twilight.

"Emily," Shinn said, "this time you have to fight through your fear."

Emily shrank down into the Twilight's cockpit seat. "I know," she said, and headed towards the catapult.

—

"Beware of the _Sevastopol_'s missiles," Shoyou warned as the Raider Gundam cruised into battle in mobile armor mode, with four Raider Full Spec units and six Windams in formation behind it. "The _Danube_ will cover us directly. Engage the _Minerva_'s mobile suits at will, but leave the two Destiny units to me!"

"Aye sir!" the pilots chorused.

"Today the _Minerva_ will go down!" Shoyou roared. "_Attack!_"

The mobile suits took off with a roar. Shoyou grinned viciously as he caught sight of the two Destiny units, flying into battle side by side. One of those, he knew, had that little slave girl inside...but this time she would not surprise him. He opened fire with the Raider's beam cannons, splitting the two Gundams apart. The Destiny opened fire with its beam rifle immediately, but the black Destiny hesitated—and Shoyou grinned. That little girl was no soldier.

"Don't do this again, Emily!" Shinn snapped, firing down on the Raider before it could attack. "Fight him!"

Emily shook her head—she had trained, hadn't she? And she had fought twice before—she could do this again, she told herself. She brought the beam rifle up and opened fire—the Raider ducked around the shots, transforming back to mobile suit mode and bringing down its hammer. Emily threw the Twilight back, as she had been trained to do, and struggled to still her trembling hands. The Raider brought its hammer around again—Emily yanked the controls back again, and the Twilight dodged the Raider's second hammer blow.

Shoyou scowled as the Destiny intervened with a wave of beam rifle blasts. "Jose and Lindsey, get over here and hold off the Destiny!" A volley of beam blasts sliced out of the heavens, cutting the Destiny off as the two Raider Full Specs arced towards the Gundam. Shoyou turned his eyes towards the Twilight. "And as for you, your little adventure is at an end!"

—

"They always get to have all the fun," Auel grunted as the Abyss took up its position on the _Minerva_'s port flank. "We have to shoot down the missiles? Bah."

"It's what we have to do," Sting said. "Here they come!" The two Gundams spread out, weapons at the ready. Sting glanced over his shoulder. "The Storm Eagle has an onboard computer to dodge attacks. I'll go forward and shoot down as many as I can—you get the rest."

"Thrilling," Auel sighed.

The Chaos took off, arming its beam rifle. Sting passed the crosshairs over the first missile and fired—only to watch the missile duck down underneath the beam blast, deploying a quartet of stabilizers as it returned to its flight path towards the _Minerva_. Sting whirled around, firing again, picking the missile out of the sky—only to watch in surprise as another one shot over his head, arcing down towards the _Minerva_'s portside catapult.

"Auel!" Sting shouted.

"I see it!" Auel shot back. "You're _mine!_"

The Abyss somersaulted into the missile's path and opened fire with its beam cannons, slicing the missile out of the air with a thunderous fireball.

Sting turned his eyes back towards the horizon, where the rest of the missiles were waiting. "This will be more interesting than I thought..."

—

Athrun Zala let out a grunt as the Windam above him hurled a Stiletto penetrator down into his deployed beam shield, pushing him back with a cloud of smoke and fire. He squinted up through the flames, finding the Windam leveling off its beam rifle—an instant later, the Infinite Justice Gundam rocketed out of the smoke, igniting its right-leg beam blade and tearing the Windam's rifle in two with a devastating kick. The Windam reeled back—Athrun backed away behind his beam shield as his foe's comrades opened fire to cover their stricken ally.

"These guys can't be too good," he grunted. The Windam charged again, beam saber in hand, as its two comrades supported it with a volley of beam fire. Athrun's eyes flashed as he saw his opportunity—

The Infinite Justice charged forward, igniting its beam boomerang blade, and with a shriek of torn metal, Athrun sawed through the Windam's waist before it could react. It went down with a thunderous explosion, and the Justice snapped its beam rifle up towards remaining two Windams, opening fire.

"Stella!" Athrun shouted. "Keep the Windams away from the ship!"

—

The Destiny Gundam danced around the blasts from the two Raider Full Spec units, afterimages shimmering in the air around it. Shinn squinted through the night sky as the two machines closed in, beam cannons blazing. He ducked aside as they shrieked by, and one of the Raiders seized both of its beam rifles from its sub-wing unit, detaching the sub-wing and sending it streaking towards the Destiny. Shinn's eyes flashed as the seed burst before him—

With a crash, the Destiny somersaulted up and thrust its left arm out. The Destiny's solid shield went hurtling forward—Shinn snapped up his beam rifle and fired down at the shield, bounding a beam shot off the anti-beam-coated surface and drilling it through the Raider's cockpit.

As the Raider died in a thunderous explosion, Shinn jetted up above another wave of beam blasts, letting the second Raider shoot by underneath him. It wheeled around for another pass, guns blazing—a white bolt of energy sliced the air, and Shinn charged forward with a scream, smashing his palm cannon into the Raider's backpack and blasting his foe apart.

Even as the second Raider exploded, Shinn turned in surprise as two more Raider Full Specs came streaking in, beam guns blazing. He took the shots to his beam shield, whirling around as the Raiders passed by over his head—only to gasp in disbelief as he saw the jet-black Raider Gundam looming over him, bringing down its hammer victoriously—

A beam shot sliced out of the sky, drilling its way through the hammer and blasting it apart. Shoyou's eyes widened in fury.

"The hammer!" He threw the useless handle away. "_You!_"

Above them both, beam rifle extended, the Twilight Gundam's eyes flashed.

—

To be continued...


	9. Phase 09: A Bloodstained Sky

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 09 - A Bloodstained Sky

—

**February 28th, CE 77 - Gulf of Gdansk, Baltic Sea**

A volley of beams streaked down towards the Raider Gundam as the Twilight charged, beam rifle blazing. Inside the cockpit, the seed burst in Emily's mind's eye—she had power, and her friend was in danger, so there was only one thing to do. The Twilight's beam wings flashed to life as the jet-black Gundam stormed forward.

"What the hell is this?" Shoyou snapped. "You dare challenge me, little girl?"

The Raider returned fire with its beam cannons, forcing the Twilight back behind its beam shield. Shoyou tore out his beam saber, sweeping it back and roaring forward. The Twilight ducked aside, leveling off its beam rifle and opening fire again—Shoyou spiraled around the blasts and fired back.

"Keiko, Riley, hold off the Destiny!" Shoyou roared, glancing back at the two Raider Full Specs. "I will take out this one!"

Inside the Destiny, Shinn Asuka looked on in disbelief as Emily fought against Shoyou. A wave of beam blasts returned him to reality, and he whirled around to face the Raider Full Specs.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Siegfried**_**-class carrier plane **_**Danube**_

"Target the _Minerva_'s prow!" Reinhardt cried as the _Danube_ sailed into battle. "Take out that positron cannon!"

The _Danube_ creaked in protest as it banked to avoid a beam cannon salvo from the _Minerva_. Reinhardt grunted, gripping his chair's armrests and glaring at his legendary foe. The _Minerva_ followed up its attack with a volley of missiles—the _Danube_'s CIWS emplacements answered to cut them out of the sky, and the _Danube_ nosed up above the smoke.

"Gottfrieds, lock on and fire!" Reinhardt roared.

The Gottfrieds blazed, but the _Minerva_ dove down beneath the blasts, and only one of them grazed the _Minerva_'s bow, leaving not even a scratch.

"Sir, only one of our shots scored a glancing blow," the weapons officer began.

"Damn that armor!" Reinhardt snarled. "We'll never get through it with beam weapons alone! Load the Sledgehammers!"

—

Another Storm Eagle cruise missile lanced by the Chaos Gundam. Sting glanced over his shoulder, watching with satisfaction as the Abyss picked it out of the sky with a Callidus blast. The Chaos lunged up into the path of another missile, opening fire with its shield-mounted machineguns, and the missile went down with a flash of fire.

"The second wave is coming in," Sting said, glancing again at the Abyss. "You ready back there?"

Auel snorted contemptuously. "They're gonna have to do more than that to get by us!" he cackled. "Bring 'em on!"

Sting looked back towards the horizon. "I always regret it when people say that. Here they come!"

The second wave closed in, deploying their stabilizer blades and splitting up. Sting narrowed his eyes, concentrating and lifting the Chaos's gunbarrels off with a flash. The Chaos pointed forward with its shield—the gunbarrels took off with a roar, spewing beam fire. As the missiles' computers automatically activated and the missiles ducked to avoid the gunbarrels' fire, Sting snapped his beam rifle into position and opened fire, cutting down two of the missiles in midair. Three more shot by the Chaos—an instant later, the Abyss let loose a blaze of beam cannon shots to tear them all of out of the sky.

"This is too easy," Auel scoffed.

"Yeah," Sting agreed. "There's gotta be more than this..."

—

"Dammit, these things are supposed to be obsolete!" Shinn growled, as the Destiny Gundam spiraled through the combined firepower of two Raider Full Specs. It whirled around and fired back with its beam rifle, but the two Raiders parted. Inside one of the Raiders, the pilot, Riley, glanced over towards his comrade.  
"These damned afterimages! I can't get a lock!" The Raider lurched back to avoid a beam rifle shot. "Keiko, draw his attention and I'll sneak around behind him!"

Keiko's Raider went screaming in towards the Destiny, releasing its sub-wing unit and sending it shrieking towards the shimmering Gundam. Inside the cockpit, Shinn scowled, drawing his anti-ship sword and slashing the sub-wing in two. He charged towards the Raider as it pulled up, firing with its Ahura Mazda cannons—Shinn smacked the shots aside with his sword's anti-beam-coated surface and charged, bringing the sword down with a crash. Keiko's Raider barely dodged the blow, but at the cost of one of its beam rifles.

"He's so fast!" Keiko cried.

Inside the Destiny, as Keiko's Raider scrambled to put distance between itself and the legendary Gundam, Shinn glanced anxiously over at the Twilight and the Raider Gundam.

"She's fighting him herself," he grunted. "I have to get over to her..."

—

The Infinite Justice quaked as the Windam team's missiles came pounding against its beam shield. Inside the cockpit, Athrun's eyes flashed as he glanced through the smoke at the Gaia Gundam over his shoulder.

"Stella, go!" he shouted.

The Gaia somersaulted off the Infinite Justice's subflight lifter, roaring up into the Windams' faces and delivering a punishing kick to the lead Windam's face. As the Alliance machine staggered back, Stella whipped up her beam rifle and fired, drilling a blast through the Windam's cockpit and blowing it apart. The remaining Windams opened fire, too late to save their comrade—Stella pulled back behind her shield, buffeted by beam blasts.

"So many...!" she grunted, pushing back against the shots and returning fire.

"Not for long!" Athrun snapped—the Justice lunged up next into the second Windam's face, and with a sickening crash, sawed through the Windam's waist with a beam blade-assisted kick. "There's only four left! Let's do this!"

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland**

"A battle?" Danilov leaned forward, intrigued, as the report came in from the sensor officer, with Vera close by.

"Gdansk police called it in," the sensor officer answered. "The Shoyou unit, the _Minerva_, and a large number of Storm Eagle cruise missiles were spotted over the Gulf of Gdansk. The _Sevastopol_ is in Pomeranian Bay, and it's reported to have launched the missiles."

"He's circumventing us," Vera observed, "substituting the Storm Eagles for us." She looked over at Danilov. "Captain, are we going to help him?"

Danilov furrowed his brow. "There's no point in offering a helping hand if he's not going to take it," he answered. "Nevertheless, he has the _Minerva_ distracted and splitting its forces. Such a position is too advantageous for us to ignore."

"Then we would have to attack simultaneously," Vera replied, "and effectively support the Shoyou unit's operation."

Danilov sat back. "Kenta Shoyou can do what he likes," he said, "but the _Charlemagne_ has a mission to fulfill, and if Shoyou cannot do it, then we will." He glanced over at the helm. "Take us in at flank speed. Order the mobile suit teams to prepare for combat—we will launch an attack of our own on the _Minerva_, regardless of what the Shoyou unit is doing."

—

Riley's Raider Full Spec jolted violently as the Destiny Gundam blew off its sub-wing unit with a long-range beam cannon blast. He cursed as the Destiny escaped his return fire with a blinding array of afterimages.

"Even with that damned anti-ship sword, he can still move faster!" Riley snapped. "Keiko, the missiles! Let's lure him into their range!"

Keiko's Raider poured firepower after the Destiny, and spiraled aside as it returned the blasts in spades. "But that's too risky!" she exclaimed.

"It's better than fighting this guy in open sky!" Riley shouted. "Come on!"

The two Raiders edged away from the battlefield, guns blazing at the Destiny. Shinn narrowed his eyes, watching the Raiders retreat towards the cruise missiles' line of fire. Suicidal, maybe, but if that was how they wanted to die...

The Destiny brandished its sword and charged after the two Raiders, even as a volley of missiles approached. Riley's Raider whirled around, transforming to mobile suit mode and letting loose a barrage of beam rifle blasts. Shinn ducked around the blasts, leveling off his long cannon and firing back to blow away Riley's right-hand rifle. Keiko lined up for a volley of her own, but the Destiny dodged again, and her shots caught only afterimages.

"Damn you!" Riley shouted—it drew a beam saber with its free right hand and charged. Shinn's eyes flashed—

"_You can try!_" he screamed—with expert precision, the Destiny somersaulted back, avoiding the Raider's beam saber swipe. With a crash, it followed with a devastating kick to the Raider's stomach, throwing it back—

...and with a scream and a hideous shriek of metal, it staggered into the path of an incoming missile, impaled on the side of the warhead. A thunderous explosion ripped the two machines apart.

"Riley!" Keiko cried. "Dammit, that Destiny—!"

Shinn narrowed his eyes and charged.

—

The beam sabers threw sparks as they clashed, and inside the cockpit of the Twilight, Emily blinked away the last vestiges of her fear. She had seen the seed—she had tapped into the power of a Newtype—now all that remained was to fight. She looked frantically for an opening, but a moment later, the Raider Gundam delivered a punishing kick to the Twilight's chest, sending it reeling back.

"That's twice you've deprived me of the Mjolnir!" Shoyou snarled. "I think it's time I deprive _you_ of something!"

The Raider swept in, beam saber raised high—Emily blinked in surprise as the instinct and the bolt of energy appeared again, and she swung her own saber into the Raider's path, blocking its blow. The Raider brought its leg up again—

This time, Emily yanked back on the controls, and the Twilight hurled itself back, dodging the Raider's kick and letting it catch only a blurry cloud of afterimages. Shoyou snarled in frustration and fired his Zorn cannon. Emily felt the energy again as she activated her beam shield, deflecting it harmlessly.

"What kind of child _are_ you?" Shoyou yelled, closing in. He stabbed forward with his saber, screaming—Emily saw the blow as time slowed, and with a scream of her own, swung her own saber up to parry the blow.

"I-I'm fighting him...!" she breathed, as the two Gundams glowered helplessly at each other. "I can do this! Come on! _Beat this guy, Twilight!_"

She slammed down on the booster, roaring forward and pushing the Raider in front of her. Shoyou grunted in surprise as his mobile suit was thrown back—he keyed in a frequency and furrowed his brow.

"Vilnius Base, this is Lieutenant Colonel Kenta Shoyou!" he exclaimed, as he dodged a beam cannon blast from the Twilight. "Requesting reinforcements!"

There was a burst of static, and then a disbelieving cough. "Colonel, none are available," the operator on the other end answered.

"_What?_" Shoyou screamed.

"The majority of our forces are engaged in anti-guerrilla activities—" the operator started.

Shoyou's Raider rattled as its beam saber blow was blocked again by the Twilight's saber. "To hell with your anti-guerilla activities! I'm fighting the _Minerva!_" Shoyou bellowed. The Raider surged forward, pushing the Twilight back with a crash, and he went charging towards his reeling foe with a scream. "_This little girl cannot defeat a warrior like me!_"

—**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

The _Minerva_ rumbled as another cruise missile went up in flames uncomfortably close to the ship's hull. Roxy adjusted her earpiece in annoyance as she sat back up in the quaking bridge seat.

"Chaos and Abyss, could you two _possibly_ try not to blow those things up _right fucking next to us?_" she shouted.

"Hey, fuck you, I'd like to see you do better!" Auel's tinny voice shot back.

"_Minerva_, we're not going to get anywhere like this!" Sting interrupted. "We can't just sit here and snipe missiles, or else they'll just shoot off more and this'll never end!"

On the bridge, in his usual chair, Rau sat back. "Captain," he said, "may I suggest that you go on the offensive against the enemy _Siegfried_. So far we have only fought defensively against them."

"Our laminated armor can't take that many hits!" Chen protested from the weapons station.

"Those missiles..." Meyrin murmured, struggling to think like Talia. Would she be bold enough to try this? "Malik, see if you can lure that _Siegfried_-class into the path of the missiles."

"That would mean we'd be putting ourselves at risk for getting hit," Malik warned.

"Well, Sting and Auel will just have to keep us safe, then," Meyrin answered.

"Yeah, no pressure or anything!" Auel snorted.

"That's suicide!" Abbey exclaimed. "We don't have the armor to stand up to a Storm Eagle impact! If they hit the engines, it would knock us out of the sky!"

Meyrin pushed down the sickening ghosts of doubt—it was what Talia would have done. "There's no other way," she said. "You have your orders!"

— Stella let out a scream as the Gaia shouldered a Jet Windam, sending it reeling back. She snapped her rifle up to fire, but the Windam managed to block the blow with its shield, staggering for distance.

"I won't let you!" Stella shouted—the Gaia lunged forward, twirling around and transforming into its quadruped mode in a flash. With a shriek of broken armor, the Gaia sliced one of its beam blades through the Windam's waist, and reverted back to mobile suit mode as the ruined Windam exploded.

Nearby, the Infinite Justice dodged the beam volleys of three Windams, deflecting shots with his shield. Athrun cast an uneasy glance at the Windams and the Gaia, gauging their positions in his mind's eye.

"Stella, cover me!" he cried. The Gaia let loose a torrent of beam blasts, forcing the Windams back—Athrun charged forward, jamming his Grapple Stinger anchor into one of the Windams. It flailed for its beam saber—Athrun yanked the Grapple Stinger back on its line, igniting his boomerang blade, and impaled the Windam through the cockpit, tossing it aside as it erupted into fire.

"Only two more!" Stella yelled—the Gaia charged forward, spewing beam fire, as one of the Windams took cover behind its shield. Its beam rifle went spiraling away—it drew a beam saber and stabbed forward ferociously, but Stella threw her shield up to block the blow.

Athrun took aim with his beam rifle at the Windam's exposed back, but the second Windam was there to spoil the shot with its shield, returning fire with its own rifle. Athrun skirted around the blasts and tore the rifle in two with a beam boomerang slash—the Windam tossed away its ruined rifle and instead hurled a Stiletto into the Justice's exposed torso.

"Dammit!" Athrun snapped, as the blast sent him staggering back. "Am I getting slow?" He switched to his beam sabers, slamming them together into a double-bladed saber, and charged through the smoke at his opponent. The Windam drew its own saber, and the two mobile suits came together in a shower of sparks.

— The Twilight's beam rifle blazed as Emily opened fire on the Raider Gundam, struggling to hit the winged black machine as it darted across the night sky. Emily struggled to push down the panic as her shots sailed wide of the lightning-fast Raider.

"He's too fast!" she wailed—the Raider whirled around and fired back with its beam cannons. Emily shrieked in fear and activated the beam shield. She shook her head violently—she had to fight here, through the feelings and through the fear.

The Raider reverted to its mobile armor mode and took off, beam cannons blazing, snapping at the Twilight with its Ahura Mazda claws. Emily desperately took cover behind her beam shield, as the blasts drove her back.

"I can't be like this...!" she cried. "Come on, Twilight! Fight him!"

Inside the Raider, Shoyou scowled in disgust as he poured fire from his Ahura Mazda guns into the Twilight's beam shield. "I should have liked my first Gundam kill to be an illustrious ace," he scoffed, "_and not a scared little girl!_"

The Raider lined up for a killing shot with its Zorn cannon—Emily screamed in fear and threw the Twilight to the side, just dodging the Raider's finishing blast.

"I can't do this, Shinn," Emily murmured, as another wave of beam blasts landed against her beam shield. "I can't do this!"

The Raider closed in, beam guns blazing—Emily's widened as something went tearing through her mind. A flash of memory; soldiers, a screen, the stench of sweat and blood and gunpowder—

The Twilight charged, ramming the Raider with its shoulder and sending Shoyou staggering back. He struggled for control, backing away with a blast from his thrusters.

"What the hell was that?" he snapped. "Who _is_ this child?"

— The Destiny danced effortlessly around another volley of beam blasts as Keiko struggled to keep up with the afterimage-spewing machine. Her Raider Full Spec whined in protest as she sent it into another dizzying maneuver, spiraling out of the way of the Destiny's return fire.

"I can't keep up with this guy...!" she grunted. "Where are my reinforcements!"

The Destiny charged again, bringing its sword down with a crash that sent the Raider's left arm flying. Keiko screamed in surprise and sent the Raider jetting back—just in time for the Destiny to saw off its right arm with the sword.

Inside the Destiny, Shinn glanced over his shoulder as the Raider clawed for distance. "The missiles...!" A trio of cruise missiles were streaking into the fray from behind the Destiny—Shinn narrowed his eyes at them.

"I can still fight in mobile armor mode!" Keiko cried, as the Raider came screaming towards the Destiny in mobile armor mode, guns blazing. Shinn glanced over at it and scowled.

"The same mistake!" he shouted—

The Destiny pointed up at the Raider with its free left hand, and with a flash, the three incoming missiles arced away from the Destiny and towards the Raider. Keiko yelped in surprise, opening fire, and two of the missiles vanished in plumes of fire—but the third plunged through the smoke, and before she could scream again, the Raider disappeared in a burst of flame.

Shinn returned his sword to the rack on the Destiny's backpack, took up his beam rifle, and took off. Emily was still out there, and he was not going to break another promise.

—**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"CIWS, intercept!" Meyrin ordered—the _Minerva_'s CIWS emplacements opened fire with a wave of bullets, cutting another missile salvo from the _Danube_ out of the sky. "We can't just sit here all night and circle each other! Isolde, target their nose! Set the shells' fuses to go off in front of their bridge!"

"Captain, I'm picking something up," Burt cut in. "That heat signature...it's the _Charlemagne_, distance 950!"

"The _Charlemagne_," Meyrin murmured. "We can't take them on head to head..."

"It looks like we'll have to," Rau pointed out. "At least we will be able to gauge their strength."

"_Minerva!_" came the tinny, static-broken voice of Shinn Asuka from Roxy's console. "I'll get rid of that _Siegfried!_ You guys worry about the _Charlemagne!_"

"We're going to have to end this fight fast!" Abbey answered. "Are you sure—"

"Activate the Tannhäuser," Meyrin interrupted. "Shinn, draw their fire! Malik, close us in and we'll take that thing out at point-blank range!"

—**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

"Shoyou's unit is being torn apart," Danilov said grimly on the bridge of the _Charlemagne_, with Sven's flight-suited image on the main screen before him. "If he retreats, cover his escape—there is no sense in letting his men die for their commander's intransigence. But our attack is our own, and the _Charlemagne_ itself will be closing to fight the _Minerva_ ship to ship."

"Understood," Sven said with a salute. "Bayan team, moving out."

The screen went dark. Danilov sat back—at long last, the _Charlemagne_ itself would enter battle. It had been built to answer the _Minerva_'s speed and durability with overwhelming firepower—now it was time to put it to the test.

"Release all the weapons, and load all missile tubes," he ordered. "Charge up the Lohengrins and Requiem X2. The _Minerva_'s positron cannon cannot possibly match our firepower." He narrowed his eyes. "_Charlemagne_, flank speed!"

— "Wha—what is this?" Emily cried, as the Twilight Gundam's beam rifle blazed. "This memory—where did this memory come from!"

The Raider darted around the Twilight's beam blasts with expert precision, closing in with its Ahura Mazda claws splayed. The Twilight threw itself back, deflecting the shots with its beam shield and returning fire as the Raider banked to the side. Shoyou whirled around for another beam cannon volley—with a scream, Emily smacked it aside with her beam shield and answered with a beam rifle shot that tore a long, smoldering gash along the Raider's torso.

"She hit me!" Shoyou snarled, pulling up as the Twilight traced his path with more rifle blasts. "Is she just a little girl or not!"

The Twilight took off with a roar, chasing down the Raider with a barrage of beam shots. Shoyou snarled and reverted the Raider back to its mobile suit mode, drawing his beam saber with a flash—

The Raider brought its saber down through the Twilight's beam rifle, tearing it in two. Emily screamed in panic as it exploded in the Twilight's hand—the Raider burst through the smoke, with Shoyou cackling.

"Let's see how much of a swordsman you really are, child!" he roared.

The Twilight drew its boomerang, the beam saber blade flashing to life, and swung back to block the Raider's blow. Shoyou surged forward, throwing the Twilight back, and lined up for a killing stab—

"No!" Emily screamed—the Twilight snapped its long beam cannon into position—she shrieked in surprise as the Raider slashed it in two before she could fire, and the resulting explosion sent the Twilight hurtling back. "This guy...this guy is gonna kill me!"

"If I didn't know better," Shoyou laughed, "I'd swear this Gundam looks afraid of me!" He raised his beam saber for a killing blow. "Is that it, little girl? _Do you fear me?_"

The Raider closed in, beam saber raised high. Emily looked up in terror as it came crashing down—

Instinct was there to send the Twilight's left arm punching forward, beam saber deployed, knocking the Raider back as it brought its saber down. Shoyou's eyes bulged in disbelief as the Twilight parried his blow and sent his Raider reeling with a jarring kick to the chest.  
"You're only supposed to be some little slave," he growled. "_Aren't you?_"

—The shells from the _Minerva_'s Isolde cannon exploded early as they were cut down by a wave of CIWS bullets. The _Danube_ quaked from the blow—inside the approaching Destiny Gundam, Shinn narrowed his eyes. It was only a plane, and had no levitator—punch enough holes in it and it would go down in flames.

"_Minerva_, cover me!" he shouted.

The Destiny charged, brandishing its sword. The _Danube_'s Gottfrieds turned towards him and fired, as the ship's starboard CIWS emplacements let loose a murderous hurricane of bullets. The Destiny expertly spiraled around the blasts, letting the CIWS bullets bounce harmlessly off the Destiny's Phase Shift armor. The _Danube_ fired a wave of missiles—Shinn pushed them back with a scream, as the X-DRAGOON amplifier flashed to life and stopped the missiles in midair, letting the CIWS guns shred them before they could adjust their fire. The Destiny plowed through the smoke, but the Gottfrieds and CIWS put up a buffeting wall of firepower that forced Shinn back behind his beam shield.

"This won't work," he growled. "But those—"

The Destiny's eyes lit up the sky with a flash, as the Gundam pointed up into the air. An instant later, a cluster of the Storm Eagle cruise missiles appeared there—Shinn let his mobile suit's arm fall, pointing towards the _Danube_, and the missiles took off with a roar. The CIWS guns claimed three of the Storm Eagles, but the fourth and fifth struck home, blowing off the starboard wing and punching a gaping hole in the rear of the plane.

"_Minerva!_" Shinn shouted. "Now!"

The _Minerva_ responded with a pulsing blast from its Tannhäuser cannon, ramming the shot through the middle of the _Danube_ and snapping it in two with a blaze of fire. Shinn swept in, screaming, and smashed his sword into the _Danube_'s bridge. He winced as a cluster of human lives disappeared—but that was what had to be.

The Destiny took off as the _Danube_ collapsed down towards the ocean and exploded.

— "_Go away!_" Stella screamed, as the Gaia Gundam charged, beam saber held high. The Windam tensed, waiting for its chance to strike at the Gaia's outstretched arm. Stella never provided it—instead she thrust her shield forward, ramming into the Windam and throwing it back. Twirling the saber in her hand, she brought it down with a forceful stab into the Windam's torso, tearing it in two with a jarring shriek of metal.

Even as the Windam exploded, she backed away behind her shield and scanned the skies for Athrun. Nearby, he somersaulted over the last Windam's head, whirling around with his beam boomerang blade ignited. The Windam turned to face him—Athrun sawed through it with a crash, ducking aside as it died its fiery death.

"The _Charlemagne_ is on its way," Athrun said, glancing over towards Stella and switching back his beam rifle. "And that means it'll probably be sending a bunch of Dark Windams."

"They're not scary!" Stella said confidently.

Athrun smiled back grimly. "No, they're not," he agreed. "Let's go show them how scary _we_ can be!"

— Shinn's eyes widened in surprise as the familiar feeling of danger shot up his spine. He slammed on the Destiny's brakes, just in time for a shimmering volley of beam blasts to streak through the air in front of him. Off to the side, three mobile suits were charging in, beam guns deployed—and Shinn narrowed his eyes at the Blu Duel and the Verde Buster, flanking their lord and master, the Strike Noir.

"I should have known you guys would show up!" Shinn snarled, whirling around and opening fire with his beam rifle. The Strike Noir and Blu Duel charged, the latter deflecting his shots with its shield, as the Verde Buster peeled off and leveled off its beam cannons. Shinn backed away from the Verde Buster's blasts, drawing his sword—the Blu Duel lunged in close with its saber, while the Strike Noir struck with its swords.

"Just as we planned!" Sven shouted, as the Gundams came together with a crash. "Shams, _now!_"

The Verde Buster attacked again, pounding a railgun shell into the Destiny's face. Shinn hacked through the smoke, finding nothing in front of him—the white bolt split the air in front of him, and he whirled around to block the Blu Duel's saber with his sword. The Strike Noir rose up behind him, swords drawn—Shinn punched upward with his beam shield to block the Noir's blow. The Verde Buster fired again—Shinn narrowed his eyes, throwing both Gundams back as he somersaulted around the shots and backed away.

"They're covering each other's weaknesses," he growled. The Verde Buster fired again—Shinn ducked aside, only to find the Noir upon him with both swords. He swung back, stopping the Noir cold—the Blu Duel charged up behind him, hurling a trio of Stilettos into the Destiny's exposed back. Shinn grunted as his Gundam rattled, and ducked aside to dodge another twin sword stroke from the Noir.

The Blu Duel charged, beam saber extended for a killing stab. Shinn smacked its saber aside with his sword, but before he could exploit the opening, the Verde Buster fired its beam cannons to force him back. The Noir lunged over the Verde Buster's shots, bringing its swords down onto the Destiny's blade and forcing it back.

"He can't attack if we give him no opening!" Sven said. "Mudie!"

The Blu Duel skirted in behind the Destiny, beam saber pulled back—Shinn's eyes flashed—

"_You think that'll work!_" he screamed—the Destiny swung its sword around, throwing the Noir back, and jammed it into the path of the Blu Duel's saber, blocking the blow. The Noir charged in again, swords extended—Shinn batted its swords aside with his beam shield, and leapt up again to dodge another blast from the Verde Buster. "Dammit...they aren't going to beat me like this!"

—**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"If we attack first, we won't have to find out just how powerful the _Charlemagne_ is," Meyrin said, praying that this would work. "All guns, target the _Charlemagne_'s bridge tower and fire!"

The _Minerva_ rumbled obediently as the Tristans and Isolde boomed, but the _Charlemagne_ ponderously ducked down beneath the blow, letting every shot pass by overhead harmlessly. Meyrin's eyes widened in fear as the _Charlemagne_'s guns angled to match—

"_Malik, pull up!_"

The _Minerva_ moaned in protest as Malik jammed the ship back, yanking it up into the air just as the _Charlemagne_ fired with three salvos of a hurricane of beam blasts, followed by a storm of railgun shells. The _Minerva_ pulled away, as Meyrin looked back in shock at the _Charlemagne_.

"That ship's firepower is considerable," Rau commented. "But this ship has the advantage in maneuverability."

"If they hit us with one of those salvos, we're screwed," Abbey said. "Captain—"

"I know!" Meyrin cried. She shook her head—the captain could show no fear. "Malik, I'll leave the evasive maneuvers to you! Try to get us somewhere where all those guns can't target us!"

The _Charlemagne_ fired again with another repeating wave of Gottfried blasts—Malik plunged the _Minerva_ down beneath the blasts.

"Tristans, Isolde, return fire!" Meyrin shouted.

She watched in frustration as the _Charlemagne_ once again ducked beneath the blasts—to think they had made this ship just to fight the _Minerva_...

— Grey cackled in glee as he locked sabers with the Infinite Justice Gundam, glowering into its two green eyes. "This is more like it!"

The Slaughter Windam surged forward, putting the thrust of its Aile Striker pack behind it, throwing the Justice back. It ignited its beam boomerang, swiping at the Windam with the shimmering blade—an instant later, it pulled back behind its beam shield as Grey's three Jet Dark Windam wingmen came streaking in, beam rifles blazing.

"Box him in!" Grey shouted. "I'll take him on close!" The Slaughter Windam charged, saber pulled back—the Infinite Justice lunged forward, drawing its own saber and stabbing forward ferociously. Grey batted the blow aside with his saber, but the Justice rammed him with his shoulder and sent him staggering back.

"You're only a Phantom Pain pilot!" Athrun snapped, eyes flashing as his beam blade kick was stopped by the Windam's shield. "I've faced better pilots than you before!" The Justice brought its saber down on the Windam's. The other three Jet Windams lined up for killing blasts—Athrun darted backward, deflecting their shots with his beam shield. The Slaughter Windam swept in again with another saber stroke—

The Infinite Justice somersaulted over the Slaughter Windam's head, and Grey yelped in surprise as his foe passed over him. Athrun whirled around to face the Windam again, but the white bolt was there to stop him—instead he threw the Justice downward, dodging the other three Windams' beam rifle blasts.

"Dammit," Athrun growled, dropping into a dizzying dive behind his beam shield. "This Phantom Pain..."

— Screaming furiously, Stella cut the IWSP Windam's beam boomerang out of the sky with a beam rifle blast. The Windam lined up for a blazing cannon volley—Stella deflected the blasts with her shield, only to go reeling back behind a cloud of smoke. The Windam burst through, showering the Gaia with Gatling gun fire.

"You can't hurt me!" Stella screamed, lunging back towards the Windam and ramming it with her shoulder. The Windam staggered back, drawing one of its swords, and charged again—Stella switched to her beam saber, stopping the Windam's sword stroke cold.

"Windam team, take the Gaia down!" Merau cried—the three Jet Dark Windams behind her opened fire. The Gaia somersaulted back, leaping over the blasts, beam saber in hand, and showered the four Windams in CIWS fire. "Dammit, what does it take to stop these things?"

The Gaia charged with a scream from its pilot, stabbing forward with its saber. Merau parried the blow with her sword—the Gaia kicked back into the Windam's stomach, knocking it off balance, but before Stella could follow up the blow, Merau drew her second sword and sent it hurtling towards the Gaia. Stella took cover behind her shield as the sword slammed into her, sending the Gaia reeling backward.

"You'll take me back to Neo..." Stella grunted, as the Gaia shook and took more beam blasts to its shield. "I won't let you!"

—**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"Missiles approaching!" Burt cried—Meyrin scanned the skies, finding a typhoon of missiles bearing down on the _Minerva_ from the _Charlemagne_.

"CIWS, take them down!" she cried—the _Minerva_'s CIWS lanced up into the air, and the dying warheads threw up a titanic cloud of smoke in their wake. "Malik, increase speed! Our visibility—!"

"Increasing speed!" Malik answered, as the _Minerva_ rumbled.

"Captain, Auel and Sting report that they've cleared out the missiles!" Roxy added from the comm console. "They want to be released to help Athrun and Stella!"

"But we need them to attack the _Charlemagne!_" Abbey protested.

"They'll never get through all those guns," Meyrin cut her off. "Let them go! Burt, give me the _Charlemagne_'s position—"

"Brace for impact!" Rau roared, cutting her off. Meyrin looked up in surprise at him—

A moment later, the _Minerva_ shuddered violently, and Meyrin nearly went flying from her chair, as the _Charlemagne_ pounded a full salvo of blasts into the _Minerva_'s front half. The Tannhäuser vanished in a plume of fire, and the portside Tristan buckled and exploded nearby, rattling the bridge and the floor and everything, into Meyrin's brain. She watched helplessly as the Isolde was blown off by a Gottfried blast, and the entire port side of her ship began to furiously smolder and smoke.

"Oh bloody _hell_, how did _this_ happen?" Abbey screamed. "Captain—!"

"_Minerva!_" Sting's broken voice came through on the comm console. "What the hell just happened? Are you all alright?"

Meyrin glared up at the _Charlemagne_, grinding her teeth. _It'll take more than that to sink us!_

"Give me a damage report!" she shouted, sitting back up and feeling her blood run hot. "Is the levitator still working?"

"We can still fly and maneuver, captain," Malik said. "They focused their fire on the prow and the Tannhäuser."

"But we lost the Tannhäuser, the Isolde, the portside Tristan, and every portside CIWS emplacement and missile tube!" Chen protested. "The starboard Tristan's power conduits have been damaged! What are we going to attack them with?"

"Captain, four more Storm Eagles approaching from the rear!" Burt cried. "The Chaos and Abyss—"

"I know!" Meyrin cut them all off, sitting up, silencing them all with the force in her voice. The _Minerva_ had survived impossible odds before, under Talia Gladys—but Meyrin Hawke would not let this ship go down with her in the captain's chair. "Malik, get those missiles on our tail, now! Then set us on a ramming course for the _Charlemagne!_"

"_What?_" Abbey screamed, as the bridge's occupants turned their eyes on Meyrin. "We're going to _ram_ them?"

"_Just do it!_" Meyrin shot back.

In his chair, Rau sat back and smiled as the wounded _Minerva_ turned back towards the battle.

— "Shit! The _Minerva!_" Shinn screamed, as the Destiny whirled its way through the Verde Buster's relentless fire. He had felt no lives go out on the ship, but there was panic and fear—especially on the bridge. Could Meyrin save the ship?

Shinn glanced bitterly at the Devil's Swords as they kept up their attack. If Meyrin could not, then Shinn would—but first he had to get rid of these three first.

"He can't hold us off forever!" Sven shouted. "Mudie, Shams, go!"

The Noir charged in, swords raised. Shinn darted aside, letting the Noir pass through only afterimages—an instant later, the Verde Buster opened fire, pounding a volley of shots into Shinn's beam shield. The Blu Duel rose up behind the Destiny, saber raised—Shinn screamed as the seed burst before him—

With a crash, Shinn sent his left arm shooting up, seizing the Blu Duel by the wrist. He whirled around, using the Blu Duel's body to smash the Noir aside. The Verde Buster leveled its rifles off again—Shinn swung the Blu Duel into the Verde Buster's line of fire.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Mudie shrieked, wrenching the Blu Duel from the Destiny's grip. The Destiny's eyes flashed as it brought its sword down through the Blu Duel's right shoulder, sawing down through its right leg and slicing its sub-wing unit in two. "_What?_"

"Mudie!" Shams shouted. The Destiny kicked the Blu Duel down out of the sky, and darted aside as the Noir charged in, swords drawn.

"Shams, open fire!" Sven shouted.

"But Mudie—" Shams began.

"_That's an order!_"

The Verde Buster leveled off its rifles and opened fire. The Destiny danced between the blasts, its pilot screaming, and lunged up into the Verde Buster's face—with a crash, the Destiny sliced off both of Shams' arms, sending his weapons clattering out of the sky, and followed it up with a devastating kick to knock the Verde Buster off its sub-wing.

"Both of them...?" Sven growled, switching to his beam pistols. He glared up at the Destiny as it whirled around, kicking the Verde Buster's sub-wing down at the Noir—Sven opened fire with his beam pistols, blowing them apart, and ducked down as the Destiny followed the attack up with a long cannon blast.

"He can't be stopped in a one-on-one fight," Sven growled.

The Strike Noir holstered its pistols and plunged down after its comrades. Inside the Destiny, Shinn switched back to his beam rifle and turned towards the battlefield.

—**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

"Captain, the _Minerva_ has four missiles on its tail," the sensor officer reported. "It looks as if they only have one battleship-grade weapon left."

"Have we won?" Vera asked breathlessly. Danilov narrowed his eyes at the _Minerva_ as it staggered through the air, belching smoke and sparks.

"As long as that thing can still move, no we haven't," he said. "Prepare all guns on Pattern Delta! There's no way they'll survive this one!"

"Wait, sir—" the sensor officer cried. "The _Minerva_ is launching missiles!"

"CIWS," Danilov began, "open—"

Before he could finish, the _Minerva_'s own CIWS emplacements opened fire, and it cut its own missiles out of the sky. Danilov blinked in disbelief, as a massive cloud of smoke rose up into the _Charlemagne_'s line of fire.

"Captain, the visibility—!" the weapons officer cried.

"A smokescreen!" Vera shouted.

"_All guns, fire!_" Danilov roared. The _Charlemagne_'s guns boomed, their pulsing blasts ripping the cloud apart—but Danilov's eyes bulged in horror as the guns caught nothing but air.

"Where—?" Vera cried.

The _Minerva_ smashed through the smoke with its ruined prow, charging forward, straight towards the _Charlemagne_.

"Are they going to ram us?" Vera screamed.

"All guns, turn and target the _Minerva!_" Danilov shouted.

"Too late!"

The _Charlemagne_ quaked as the _Minerva_ pulled up, soaring over the _Charlemagne_'s dorsal side and blasting by the bridge tower. Danilov grunted as his vessel shook—

"Captain! The Storm Eagles have locked onto us!" the sensor officer screamed. Danilov's eyes went wide in disbelief—

"_All hands, BRACE FOR IMPACT!_"

Danilov gripped the armrests of his chair until his hands were white as the _Charlemagne_ rocked. Outside, the four missiles that had been tailing the _Minerva_ came slamming into the hull of the _Charlemagne_. The mammoth battleship lurched, and Danilov hissed in fury as red lights began to flash and alarms began to sound.

"Captain, the levitator has been damaged!" the helmsman cried. "We're losing altitude!"

"_Minerva_ is 675 to our rear! It appears to be retreating!" the sensor officer added.

"They're getting away!" Vera exclaimed. "How many guns are still—"

"We can't fight with a damaged levitator," Danilov growled. "Recall our mobile suits." Vera looked over at him in disbelief. "Helm, set course at best possible speed for the Vilnius base." He glanced back at his winged foe as it sailed into the early morning sky. "Well done, _Minerva_..."

— The Raider rocked as the Twilight brought its saber down on Shoyou's blade. In the cockpit, Shoyou blinked in surprise as the information came by on his screen.

"The _Charlemagne_—?" he exclaimed. "But how?"

The Twilight surged forward, throwing him back. He leveled off his beam cannons and fired, forcing the Twilight back behind its beam shield.

"Even a ship like that," Shoyou snarled. "_Danube_, come in! Reinhardt!" He scanned the skies angrily. "Where the hell is it!" The sensors beeped urgently—Shoyou looked up, and threw his beam saber up to block the Twilight's downward hack. "Not today, little girl! _I will not be denied my victory!_" The Raider roared forward, sending the Twilight reeling. "_NOW DIE!_"

Inside the Twilight, Emily's eyes flashed as the bolt appeared before her—she saw the Raider sweep back its saber for a killing blow—with a scream, she charged forward, jabbing her beam shield forward to knock the Raider's saber arm aside. With a crash, she brought her saber down through the Raider's waist, ripping the Raider in two—

Shoyou died with a scream as a plume of fire filled the cockpit.

Emily squeezed her eyes shut as the Raider exploded and the feeling of death stabbed into her mind. She looked over in surprise as the Twilight rattled, finding the Destiny over her shoulder, stopping her from reeling backward.

"Emily, the _Minerva_ is retreating," Shinn's voice said, garbled and distant to Emily's battle-numbed ears. "Let's get out of here!"

The two Gundams with the wings of light took off, as the Raider's wreckage fell to the earth.

—To be continued...


	10. Phase 10: Murmansk

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

Note: This time the language skills I lack are Russian in nature, and since I'm not sure how fond various web browsers are of Cyrillic, I have no idea if the characters will even show up properly. Either way, though, Russian-speakers can simply laugh at all the weird translations.

—

Phase 10 - Murmansk

—

**March 1st, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia**

The _Charlemagne_ staggered through the air, leaving behind it a thick trail of smoke and flames. The mechanics had left the mobile suits aside in the hangar for the time being while they struggled to get the ship to the nearby Vilnius base in Lithuania, but that would be difficult at best. The _Minerva_'s last-minute suicide run had rammed four high-powered Storm Eagle cruise missiles into the _Charlemagne_'s hull, and the fact that the _Charlemagne_ could still fly at all was a testament to the ship's design—because not many things could still function after being hit with a Storm Eagle.

Vera sighed heavily on the bridge as she glanced over the latest damage report. "The levitator has been holding on auxiliary power," she said, "and we've got Dual-Gottfried Two and Three reconnected on emergency conduits, in case we need to fight. But there have been no reports of Resistance units between here and Vilnius." She shook her head. "To think we were defeated so quickly..."

Danilov sat back tiredly. "Well, we inflicted plenty of damage on them in the meantime," he replied. "And at any rate, the captain of the _Minerva_ is either very smart or very crazy." He stood up. "I'll leave the bridge to you—there's not much more I can do here, and I'm going to have to explain to Lord Djibril and Marshal Markav why we were defeated in our first match with the _Minerva_."

"Understood, sir," Vera said. "And good luck. Command is not going to be happy."

"Are they ever," Danilov chuckled.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Baltic Sea**

The mechanics were happy enough to leave the mobile suits alone, so Emily could only gaze anxiously at the ruined end of the Twilight's long-range beam cannon. The battle had been taxing, to say the least—the instinct had returned, to save her life, to give her the strength to fight, to destroy that Raider Gundam. But she could not explain how that instinct had come to pass—not when she had only the training Shinn had managed to give her in the days before that engagement. She was an amateur, yet she had bested a pilot who seemed to be an ace. But how?

"Brooding about it isn't gonna fix it," a familiar voice pointed out. Emily glanced over her shoulder, where Shinn Asuka stood, arms crossed. "The mechanics will get to it when we arrive at Poljarny."

Emily looked back up at the Twilight. "Poljarny...why are we going there?"

Shinn stepped up next to her, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "It's a Resistance base," he explained. Emily glanced over at him in surprise. "It used to be a shipyard belonging to the Russian Federation and the Eurasian Federation. The Resistance took it over and managed to defend against countless Alliance attacks, and now it's a stronghold." He shrugged. "We were at the battle where the Alliance made its biggest push to dislodge us from Poljarny, back in the spring of '76. It was pretty nasty. But the good news is we can take a breather there. We've got strongholds like this all over the world."

"...will we be safe there?" Emily asked.

"About as safe as anyone in the Resistance can be," Shinn answered. "But we won't get there 'til tomorrow morning, so you might want to find some way of occupying yourself." He turned and headed off, towards the Destiny. Emily watched him go numbly for a moment, before she looked back up at the Twilight.

—

"At best speed, we won't be at Murmansk until about 0700 tomorrow morning," Malik reported. He glanced at the helm's digital clock. "And it's 2200 now."

In the captain's chair, Meyrin sat back tiredly. "At least we've managed to stay airborne," she said. "And nobody has attacked us, so as long as our luck there holds, we should be able to get to Poljarny without event."

"The repairs will take several days, however," Abbey pointed out, consulting her own station. "We can't afford to be holed up in dry dock for too long."

"We'll deal with that when we get to Poljarny," Meyrin said. "I'll leave the bridge to you, Abbey," she added, standing up and rubbing her eyes. "Inform me if anything bad happens."

Roxy heaved a sigh. "Somethin' bad _always_ happens."

—

**March 2nd, CE 77 - The Capitol Building, Washington D.C., Atlantic Federation**

The United States of America still existed as a political entity, and ruled a panorama of fifty states sprawled across the North American continent. Although the Atlantic Federation was officially a cooperative among its member nations, it was in actuality ruled by the United States President. Some countries surrendered that sovereignty willingly, others not so willingly, but the power in the Atlantic Federation lay in Washington D.C. If one was to speak to the power in the world's most powerful nation, then Washington D.C. was the venue of choice.

And that is why Lord Djibril stood up in the House of Representatives Chamber, with OMNI Enforcer's dramatic flag draped behind him, behind the rostrum with a joint session of Congress arrayed before him. He glanced at the faces around the sprawling chamber, particularly the one seated up behind him—the wizened, mummy-like new President, Evander Vasserot, had been the Vice President of Joseph Copland, and taken the reins of power after Copland's mysterious disappearance at the end of the Junius War. It helped to have an actual friend in charge of the Atlantic Federation—because normally he would have had to pull all sorts of other strings to make this address.

The roaring applause slowly died down, as Djibril adjusted the lapels of his crisp black suit. His adoring public awaited.

"Congress of the United States of America," he began, loudly and grandly, "I begin by thanking you for your continued support for the Earth Alliance. The Atlantic Federation has provided and sacrificed much to make this global union of nations work. I spoke these words of thanks before the assemblies of the Eurasian Federation, the Republic of East Asia, and the South African Union as well, but this great alliance is impossible without the cooperation of all members—and for that, I thank you."

The chamber erupted into applause. Djibril stood back, waiting for it to die down again.

"The forces of the Resistance continue to fight us," he continued, "and so there is still need for this worldwide alliance of nations to combat those who would wring from us the world we worked and bled to build. The Resistance is still strong—and it must be crushed. And that is why I come before you to urge you to continue your support for the Earth Alliance, with gold and guns, with words and warriors. The dark hand of the Resistance has reached even to America, where the tragedies and attacks are painfully common. Only united can we bring these cowards and criminals to justice."

More applause. Djibril suppressed a smile—an audience of politicians who all had to look supportive was always the best audience.

"The Earth Alliance has a strong policy agenda that it would like to see implemented for the year of Cosmic Era 77," Djibril continued. "If you'll permit me," knowing full well that they would, "I would like to outline it for you..."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Poljarny Inlet Naval Installation, Russia**

There were many duties of the captain that irked Meyrin Hawke to no end, but one of the most odious in her mind was greeting the _Minerva_'s many visitors. Although not always, they were usually surprised to find not a grizzled, aged, scarred, and extremely male captain with the white cap, but a nineteen-year-old girl who, four years ago, had been nursing a crush for the man who was now the hero of the Resistance. It managed to annoy her, because even with the low confidence she had in her own abilities, she felt that there was no need for them to be so _open_ about their disbelief. Talia had not been so old when she took command of the _Minerva_, after all.

Meyrin suspected that the same thoughts were going through Abbey's head, as the bridge doors opened and an aging man in the white uniform of a Russian Navy admiral emerged onto the bridge of the _Minerva_. He offered Meyrin and Abbey a salute; they both returned it, and Meyrin reached out to shake his hand. Just because she was a girl, she told herself, did not mean she could not act like a commander.

"Captain Hawke, welcome to Poljarny," the man said. "I am Admiral Aleksandr Pegodin, commandant of the Poljarny Inlet base. I must say, it is a surprise to see someone as young as you in command of such a legendary vessel."

"There are people younger than us fighting this war, admiral," Meyrin assured him, crushing the annoyance in her voice, as he reached over to shake Abbey's hand. "That we are simply the ones in charge of a unit in this war is to be expected."

"Well, clearly you must have either skills or the grace of God," Pegodin said. "It is our honor to host you here. Feel free to make repairs and take on supplies in peace. We will support you so long as your ship is berthed in our dock."

"It will be a few days, at least," Abbey warned. "The _Charlemagne_ and the Shoyou unit did quite a number on us."

"So I heard," Pegodin chuckled. "They say a new pilot of yours was the one who brought down the Sky Samurai." His eyes dimmed with sadness. "My son was in the Neo-Bolsheviks...I'm sure he would be happy, were he here."

"Kenta Shoyou can't harm anyone ever again," Abbey said quickly.

"Yes, yes," Pegodin agreed. "But enough of that. We have work to do. You say you will need to be here for a few days? You are welcome here, then—please, allow Poljarny's mechanics to assist your men repairing your ship."

"That really won't be necessary—" Meyrin started. Pegodin interrupted with a throaty laugh.

"Captain Hawke, it would be our pleasure," he exclaimed. "I don't think you understand the high esteem you are held in here. Don't forget that among your many exploits was helping us establish this base."

Meyrin glanced back at Abbey—that had been one hell of a battle.

"It was more Shinn who did that than us," Abbey protested.

"And there are people who worship young Asuka as though he was a god," Pegodin answered, "but you mustn't cheat yourselves of your reputation. You are the heroes of the Resistance—and so you are more than welcome here." He took a step back. "I'm afraid I have business of my own, both as pertains to your stay here and the usual trials and tribulations of running a military base. But I urge you to please make yourselves at home."

"Before you go," Abbey said, glancing again at Meyrin and receiving a tacit nod, "I do have a question. This base is not far from both the Vilnius base and the Svalbard Islands. Has the Alliance attacked recently?"

Pegodin shook his head. "There's an Alliance fleet massing at Svalbard, I hear," he said, "but I've nothing to substantiate it with, and there's no indication at any rate that their target is Poljarny. Still, we remain vigilant." He offered them another hesitantly-returned salute. "My head of mechanics will be up shortly to deal with the details of repairing your ship. Until then, good day."

As Pegodin disappeared out the door, Meyrin heaved a sigh, scratching her head. "I feel weird being a hero," she mumbled.

"Mom always said I'd be famous," Abbey grumbled. "Let's go see if the head mechanic is so sycophantic."

—

The biting cold was no stranger to Emily von Oldendorf as she wrapped her faded blue coat tightly around herself. The _Minerva_ was safely in dock, and so some of the crew was heading into the city. Emily had decided to go with Shinn, hoping to see the sights and be a little safer...and because if only for a little while, she wanted to be far away from the sterile walls and crushing confinement of the _Minerva_.

Shinn Asuka emerged from the _Minerva_'s gangway, hands in his pockets. He nodded to her as she fell into step next to him. "They're holding a car for us," he said. "We'll be here for a few days, so we might as well go into the city and enjoy the open space while we—"

Shinn and Emily both blinked in surprise at the sound of shouting. Emily looked around urgently, hoping there wouldn't be a problem—and a moment later, something came flying out of nowhere, straight into Shinn. He yelped in surprise, staggered back, and blinked helplessly—

Emily paused and looked on in confusion as a girl in a parka pressed a passionate kiss against Shinn's lips. He sputtered helplessly as she finally pulled away far enough for him to breathe.

"_Shinn Asuka!_" the dark-haired girl cried, her face aglow with a smile. "_Вы наконец возвратились! Я знал, что Вы будете!_"

"Wh-what?" Shinn sputtered. "Do I know you?"

"_Es ist die Flügel des Lichts! Aussehen!_" another voice shouted, as bodies began to converge around the two, and the girl pressed another kiss against Shinn's scarred cheek.

"Sorry about that, my friend!" someone laughed, in a language that Shinn could finally understand. A gloved hand seized Shinn by the arm and yanked him free of the girl's grip, as she reached after him. Shinn blinked up at the huge bearded man who was his apparent savior. "Tatyana has had her heart set on you ever since she was in a tank crew at the Battle of Minsk."

"Oh, right, _that_," Shinn said uncomfortably, glancing back at her. She threw her arms around Shinn again, with a third kiss.

"_Вы спасли мою жизнь! Вас посылал Бог!_" she exclaimed.

"I really should've taken those extra language classes in school," Shinn said, awkwardly trying to pat her on the shoulder, and pulling away as she tried to reach into his coat. "_Whoa_, not so fast there!"

"Shinn, what is all this?" Emily protested, looking around in confusion. "Are you this famous?"

"You don't know?" the bearded man laughed, his voice somehow ringing about above the voices in a thousand languages and the eager faces converging around Shinn Asuka. "This man is the hero of the Resistance!"

Shinn blinked in surprise as his gloved hands were taken by those of a young, thin blond man, who stared at him with shimmering blue eyes.

"Thank you," he said in a broken, stammering voice, one hand clutching a wooden crucifix, "the man who has saved us from death! Christ be with you!"

Another pair of arms threw themselves around Shinn's shoulders. He blinked helplessly as hands and arms all centered on him, and dozens of battle-weary soldiers greeted him as their savior.

Emily stood to the side, watching in disbelief as Shinn struggled to extricate himself from the mass of bodies. He glanced back at her—the hero of the Resistance indeed, the man whose exploits sent Lord Djibril into fits, being exalted by his comrades. She watched as the soldiers shone with hope, the glow of happiness as they celebrated their hero.

"Hey, guys, can y'all loosen up a bit?" Shinn coughed. "I kinda can't breathe here." His eyes went wide, his face red. "And _get your hands out of there!_"

Slowly and with no shortage of embarrassed grumbling, he untangled himself with the help of the bearded man. "I suspect you're on your way out," he chuckled, "so I suppose we should let you be on your way." He turned towards some of the soldiers. "_Возвратитесь, чтобы работать!_"

The first girl seized Shinn by the shoulders, gazing solemnly into his blinking crimson eyes. "_Я буду ждать Вас, __Shinn Asuka! __Я ваш!_" She managed to steal one more kiss before the bearded man pulled her away.

"_Татьяна, он вероятно уже получен подруга_," the bearded man said.

"_Тогда я могу быть другим!_" the girl shot back, as the bearded man shoved her away.

"My apologies, comrade," the bearded man said. "You'd best leave now while you've still got the chance. There's a girl here—"

"I already don't want to know," Shinn sputtered. "I'm outta here. Thanks." He seized Emily by the arm and dragged her away, as the bearded man returned to shouting in Russian at the soldiers.

"Is it like this all the time?" Emily asked, as Shinn yanked her towards the beat-up jeep waiting at the edge of the tarmac. "I don't wanna go with you if there are crowds like this all over the place."

"Remind me to tell you about my week in the Caribbean last year," Shinn said crossly. "Get in, before anyone else sees me."

—

**Svalbard Arctic Regional Base, Svalbard Islands, Arctic Sea**

"The _Minerva?_"

Admiral Bartholomew Stone of the Phantom Pain turned in surprise at the words of the nervous Earth Alliance Navy petty officer standing in the doorway of the war room.

"Yes sir," the petty officer answered. "They docked early this morning. Intel expects them to stay for a few days to repair the damage incurred by the _Charlemagne_ and the Shoyou unit."

"The _Charlemagne_ sets out to prove its worth and this is what happens," Stone said with a sigh. "Very well then. You are dismissed."

The petty officer disappeared with a curt salute, and closed the door behind himself. Stone turned back towards the captains of the vessels of his fleet, all in the dark blue uniforms of the Earth Alliance Navy, arrayed before him.

"If the _Minerva_ is there," a commander spoke up, "then shouldn't we rethink this plan? The _Minerva_ is no ordinary—"

"Of course not," Stone interrupted, waving the protests off. "The attack on Poljarny and Murmansk will proceed as planned."

"Even so, with the _Minerva_ present, sir, I believe we should adjust our plans to compensate," a commodore said. "They are a powerful unit, and even if the ship itself is in dry-dock, we all know that it is the _Minerva_'s mobile suits that cause the most damage in battle."

"I know that," Stone answered. "But the Alliance has spent so much time focusing on mopping up guerrillas that it has lost sight of the greater picture. Now the Resistance has been able to establish strongholds like Poljarny all over the world. Once they consolidate these holdings, they will be able to begin challenging us more directly—and we cannot allow that to happen."

"Admiral, we have attacked the Poljarny base before," a lieutenant commander protested. "In CE 76, I was part of the fleet that tried to drive them out. The Destiny Gundam sank my flagship, sir. Are we really going ahead with this?"

Stone's eyes flashed disgustedly. "The city of Murmansk has been harboring these traitors and terrorists," he continued, heedless of the lieutenant commander's concerns. He glanced down at the table in front of him, pausing to tap a few keys on the intercom. "Heaven's Base, this is Admiral Bartholomew Stone at Svalbard."

"This is Heaven's Base. We copy, admiral," the operator answered.

"I am requesting the release of a Destroy Gundam unit to the Svalbard base, headquartered aboard my flagship, the _Actium_," Stone said, ignoring the gasps of his officers.

"Um, yes sir," the operator stammered. "Request is transmitted. You'll hear back within the hour, sir."

"Excellent. Stone out." He shut the intercom off. "The Destroy will be crucial. These civilians knowingly harbor such scoundrels as the Resistance because they do not fear us. The Destroy will remind them that we are to be feared."

"Sir," an officer began, the disbelief evident in his voice, "isn't that too harsh?"

"Of course it's not," Stone scoffed. "Resistance troops are cowards. I fully expect them to retreat into Murmansk proper, where they will likely cause considerable damage. The Destroy will not only wipe them all out, it will send our message to the traitorous people of Murmansk that we will not tolerate the harboring of Resistance scum."

"But sir, we would undoubtedly kill thousands of civilians!" another officer protested. "Is this really—?"

"Commander," Stone cut him off, eyes flashing, "war is a series of sacrifices. Now it is Murmansk's turn to sacrifice." He suppressed a scowl—damned regular forces never knew what it took to win. "I expect the Destroy to arrive within the next six hours. Once we have it loaded aboard the _Actium_, we will depart. Make sure your vessels are ready to do so by then." He straightened up and saluted. "Dismissed."

—

**The Capitol Building, Washington D.C., Atlantic Federation**

"Obviously," the man surrounded by journalists and reporters said, "I think we need to take Lord Djibril's proposal seriously, and certainly consider the merits of his plan to escalate the war with the Resistance and bring this conflict to an end. But just because I think it should be taken seriously does not mean I agree with it."

"Senator Meyers! Does this mean you'll be voting against the next spending bill?" someone asked.

Senator Robert Meyers suppressed a grin—he was a politician, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, and this was his element. "Obviously," he repeated, "I cannot say how I will vote until I have seen the whole measure for myself. Lord Djibril's summary undoubtedly left out some important little details, and we all know that _that_ is where the devil resides. So we shall see."

"Senator," someone else said, shoving his way towards the senator, "lately there have been rumors that your son, serving in the Phantom Pain, is using an Extended. Is there any truth to that?"

Meyers expertly checked his reactions—the Extended were _supposed_ to be classified, but a certain traitorous ZAFT Gundam pilot from three years ago had put an end to _that_.

"My son writes to me from time to time," he answered, "but is not at liberty to discuss much more than how he personally is doing. Just because he's the son of a senator does not allow him to include classified information in his correspondence. But I don't expect him to be using an Extended in his unit. We've made it clear to Lord Djibril that such practices are unacceptable." He waved away the next reporter. "That's all the time I have today—I have work to do, after all."

The reporters rushed around Meyers anyway, and he cast an annoyed glance over his shoulder. A moment later, a gunshot rang out through the sky on the steps of the Capitol—the reporters scrambled back in fear, and Meyers suppressed the urge to smile.

"What the senator _meant_," a girl's voice said irately, "was _back the fuck off._"

Meyers glanced to the side as a girl in the old variant of the Earth Alliance's uniform, with the shirt tied by the sleeves around her waist, emerged from behind him, wielding a smoking handgun. She flipped her long black braid over her shoulder.

"Sergeant," Meyers said, easing into the role, "was that really necessary?"

"Well, it got the point across," the girl protested.

Meyers sighed and gestured to the girl at his side. "Ladies and gentlemen, meet Sergeant Seri Minamoto," he said. "President Vasserot dispatched her to my staff to serve as a bodyguard. As you know, there's been more than one attempt on my life, but none of those attempts have come on her watch. She _is_ a rambunctious one, but I believe her point has been made clear." He offered a servile little bow. "Good day."

Meyers descended the steps with Seri unmolested and ducked inside his waiting limousine. Seri slammed the door shut behind them and sighed heavily as the limo started up.

"_Sheesh_, they're like vultures today," she grumbled.

Meyers sat back with a thin smile. "Lord Djibril doesn't come to town and give a speech every day," he answered. "Although I _did_ find the Extended question a bit ironic," he added, with a dark chuckle. He cast his coal-black eyes towards Seri. "Didn't you?"

Seri squirmed uncomfortably. "Yes sir."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Poljarny Inlet Naval Installation, Russia**

"I told you," Roxy said tiredly as Auel hacked and coughed and sputtered in the _Minerva_'s crew lounge, "150-proof vodka is not a shooter."

Auel coughed loudly and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "That's not vodka, that's hydrochloric acid!" he shot back. "How the _fuck_ do you drink that stuff?"

Roxy tipped back her glass. "Have you forgotten where we are? How could I possibly live with myself knowing that we stopped in Russia and I didn't raise a glass of the local poison?"

On her other side, Sting heaved a sigh. "Besides, Auel, Roxy has been drinking this stuff since she was, like, four years old. Her liver must have Phase Shift armor by now."

"Oh, fuck you, Sting," she shot back. "I'm a _recreational_ drinker."

"And a recreational smoker, a recreational cocaine user, a recreational heroin junky—" Sting added.

"_Hey!_" she snapped. "I only did heroin once!"

"Yeah, on that fateful night in Amsterdam—"

"Shut up."

"Yeah, well, you can finish that," Auel said crossly, putting the glass back on the table next to Roxy. "And God knows you will. That stuff is _evil_."

"I see they didn't enhance _all_ of your capabilities," she said with a smug little smirk, taking another sip.

"Consumption of extremely alcoholic drinks isn't considered a military necessity by the Earth Alliance," Sting pointed out. "If anything, they tried to discourage it."

"They have a habit of discouraging things," Roxy said. "Like 'human life.' They don't seem to be too fond of that."

"Yeah, well, that's what we're here for, I guess," Sting answered, with a shrug and an airy sigh.

"And we want to kick ass," Auel added.

Sting smirked. "That too."

—

"Five days, huh?" Vino Dupre asked, leaning tiredly against an empty crate of mobile suit parts and staring wearily up at the two latest mobile suits in the _Minerva_'s complement.

"All things considered, that's not bad," Yolant said next to him. They both looked up at the Savior and Legend Gundams, towering above them inside the hangar. "The Savior needed the most work. The Second Stage Gundams weren't built with the same internal components as the Destiny Mobile Weapon Project ones. We had to do that much more work."

"Did you," Vino sighed. "Well, least they've got pilots we know will do pretty good." He sneered. "Better than a certain someone else whose Gundam I spent all night assembling."

Yolant sighed, rubbing his temples in irritation. "I dunno, man," he said. "It's been three years. I don't really like Shinn that much either, and I used to hang out with him a lot more than you did, but still, isn't it time to let that all go?"

"He got our friends killed," Vino answered with a scowl. "And let's not forget that he did _earn_ the nickname 'traitor Asuka.'"

"Yeah," Yolant agreed, "but I'm getting tired of hating him. And it seems entirely counterintuitive to me that we hate him and yet we always help him tune his Gundam to squeeze every drop of perfection possible out of it."

Vino sniffed indifferently. "You need to rationalize it," he said. "I don't see it as helping Shinn out. I see it as perfecting a machine that Shinn Asuka happens to pilot into battle. That he's the one who does it does not stop me from doing my job."

"Whatever, man," Yolant sighed. "But you know that he tried to protect Luna at Solomon's Sword, right?"

Vino's eyes darkened. "He _tried_," he spat. "But Luna's not here, is she?"

Yolant looked down at the floor. "No," he said, "she's not."

—

Rau Le Creuset was not a man given to coarse language, but the only way he could describe the man on the screen in front of him was that he was an asshole.

Gerhardt von Oldendorf certainly looked important enough. A tall man with a lined face, a hawkish nose, a clipped beard, neat gray hair, in a trim black business suit with a tasteful, understated red tie. He appeared to be relatively fit, certainly not the stereotypical fat bureaucrat. But Rau was no fool—he could put two and two together, and well understood that a man who sells his then-thirteen-year-old daughter into the household staff of an industrialist with then-rumored ties to Blue Cosmos and then-Atlantic Federation President Joseph Copland was not the sort of man with a bright political future ahead of him. By all normal accounts, indeed, he would be considered an asshole.

And yet Earth Alliance Director of Military Procurements Gerhardt von Oldendorf appeared to be doing pretty well for himself. Funny how that worked.

There was a gap in the information. Gaps in the information annoyed Rau to no end—he was a man whose plans and schemes and very purpose of continued existence in this Sodom and Gomorrah of the Cosmic Era relied on information. Rau knew Lord Djibril, and he knew as well that Lord Djibril, even with his new dizzying power, was not a man given to carnal desires. Hatred of Coordinators, and destruction of Coordinators, was why his heart still beat and his lungs still drew breath. Rau occasionally wondered what Djibril would do once there were no more Coordinators left to kill.

He felt the spike of two Newtypes out in Murmansk. Yes, like _that_ was going to happen.

But if Gerhardt had not sold little Emily into Lord Djibril's bed, then surely there was a reason why he sent his youngest daughter to serve the master of Blue Cosmos. Financial gain, perhaps—but Lord Djibril was well off enough that he could have simply bought the services of people who would serve him far better than would Emily. Rau did not even need Newtype senses to guess that she had not been much of a servant. But Lord Djibril considered himself a modern-day Renaissance man—virulent racism notwithstanding—and surely such a man would not condescend to slavery.

Rau smiled ironically at that thought.

He turned the idea over in his mind. Strands of thought and knowledge floated around, but had yet to find one all-important fulcrum around which to connect themselves. But surely it would come—the word "evolution" was highlighting itself in his mind, and surely that was important.

He turned his thoughts and eyes towards the massive tech manual on his desk, as he leaned back in the chair in his room. The ZGMF-X666S Legend Gundam had originally been meant for him, although Rey Za Burrel had thrown something of a monkey wrench into _that_ plan. It was time to get acquainted with his new ride.

—

"So this is the Savior, huh?" asked Viveka as she craned her neck to stare up at the silent face of her new machine. "Whatcha got on it?"

At her side, Athrun Zala crossed his arms, looking up impassively at the freshly-assembled Gundam. "It's a transformable aerial combat unit," he began.

"Transformable?" Viveka echoed. "What, like real transforming, and not that 'hunch down on the ground and call it transforming' shit the BuCUE did?"

"...yes," Athrun said. "It—"

"_Awesome!_" Viveka exclaimed. "_Please_ tell me it plays the _Transformers_ theme when you change modes!"

Athrun blinked. "_Transformers_...?"

"Yeah! You know, that ancient cartoon with all the robots that turned into cars and planes and shit? You freaking _fly_ a giant robot, you _have_ to have heard about it!"

Athrun blinked again. "...anyway," he continued, as Viveka heaved a sigh, "ZAFT designed it in order to keep up with the Earth Alliance's aerial superiority. Yolant and his men upgraded the avionics to match modern standards and the standards in our own machines, so you should be able to keep ahead of the Alliance's standard forces. Against more specialized foes, that may be another story, but the only way we'll know for sure is to test it out in real combat."

Viveka scoffed. "I worked _hard_ for my reputation, Zala-boy," she said. "I ain't gonna need a babysitter."

Athrun glanced awkwardly at her. She seemed so alive, even to his rudimentary Newtype senses, and that was strange. But even to Athrun's senses, he could detect something else—probably, he guessed, the desire to protect her sister.

Athrun's eyes darkened. Protecting people...that had gone well for him.

"You don't have to fly with us," he said quietly. Viveka glanced over at him in surprise, her smile fading. "You shouldn't feel obligated—"

"Of course I do," Viveka cut him off. "I don't want to sit around on the ship being useless." She flashed a grin over at the dour Justice pilot. "Besides, I told Emily that she'd better keep up with me, and I wouldn't want to bail on _that_, would I?"

Athrun glanced back doubtfully at the Savior. "If you say so."

—

**Earth Alliance aircraft carrier **_**Actium**_**, Svalbard Arctic Regional Base, Svalbard Islands, Arctic Sea**

"A fine day for a fight, it looks like," Stone said as he glanced over the weather forecasts for Poljarny and Murmansk on March 3rd. "A marine layer, perhaps, but that may be something we can use to our advantage, if we can scramble a squadron of Darkwings."

He glanced up from his screen and surveyed the bridge of the _Actium_ as it made the final preparations to launch. The _Actium_'s captain glanced over at him with a curt nod.

"We can launch at your command, admiral," he said.

"Excellent," Stone said, standing with a thin smile and seizing the intercom. "Attention 5th Arctic Fleet of the Earth Alliance. This is your commander, Admiral Bartholomew Stone of the Phantom Pain. Momentarily, we will be setting out, but before then, it is imperative that you be aware of where we are going and what we are doing." He allowed himself a dramatic pause—this was the fun part of being an admiral. "Our target is the Resistance's Poljarny base. Some ships and sailors of this fleet survived our last attack there in CE 76. We will return and avenge those who did not. The warship _Minerva_ is docked there. Some ships and sailors of this fleet have survived countless skirmishes with that vessel. We will avenge those who did not. We bring with us a Destroy Gundam unit and a suitable pilot. Men, today we sail forth to avenge those that have sacrificed everything for our new world." Another pause. "_Actium_, all ships, launch!"

Stone sat back, replacing the intercom on his seat as the _Actium_ and its followers lurched forward in the water and set sail. He glanced over at the ship's comm officer

"Comm," he said, "get me the nearest Phantom Pain unit to Poljarny. I'd like to apply all the force I can get to that base."

"The nearest unit is a _Hannibal_-class, sir," the officer answered. "The _Bonaparte_, under the command of Harris Meyers."

"Excellent," Stone said. "Send him a message, that I'm requesting him to launch a diversionary attack on Poljarny while we launch our main attack. We'll cut that base in two."

"Yes sir," the comm officer said. Stone sat back with a smile.

—

**Murmansk, Russia**

"That's the part I always hate about stopping at a base," Shinn sighed quietly as he strode down the empty, snow-caked street with Emily at his side. "There's always some girl who leaps out of nowhere and asks me in a language I don't know to make love to her. I tell you, it's weird being a celebrity."

Emily glanced aside awkwardly, blushing and trying not to imagine making love with Shinn Asuka. "I'm not going to be that famous, am I?"

"Depends on how good a pilot you are," Shinn answered with a shrug. "Though I will tell you this, and don't take offense, but since you're a girl, you might be more at risk for, uh, guys who won't take no for an answer." He sighed heavily, his warm breath swirling in the air before him. "Not everybody in the Resistance is a moral, upstanding human being. I don't want you to get the wrong impression just because nobody on the _Minerva_ has tried anything. Some Resistance soldiers are downright horrible."

"Horrible...?" Emily asked meekly.

"Give you an example," Shinn sighed, glancing around, reaching out with his senses for anyone nearby. Emily watched him carefully—he had been doing this almost constantly as they ambled throughout the city. "In '75, Athrun and I were on assignment in Los Angeles." He visibly shuddered. "If you've never gone there, don't. Our job was to collect some funds from the city's biggest street gangs. God only knows where they got it from, and we weren't exactly thrilled with it, but war makes some very strange bedfellows. We showed up at the drop location, and something went wrong, because we found ourselves in the middle of a turf war. We took refuge, and stumbled into somebody's safe house. They had us outnumbered, so we hid before they found us..." Emily blinked as even her rudimentary senses picked up the pain from Shinn. "They had a bunch of people there. Tied up. I don't know why. They went through them, just...killing them. Laughing. It was a game." He squeezed his eyes shut, as Emily felt her blood run as cold as the snow she stood in. "Next thing I remembered, Athrun and I were soaked in blood and surrounded by dead gangsters and terrified survivors." Shinn looked back at Emily. "Needless to say, we did not secure any funds. But I want you to know that not all Resistance soldiers are like us. So don't assume that you're safe with anyone but us. I...don't want to see you wind up like any of those people."

Emily nodded brokenly, flashing back to the rumors she had heard at Heaven's Base of the hideous things Resistance members were said to do to both civilians and soldiers. The horrific images of bearded men in flak jackets and robes, screaming about their god as they beheaded a captured Alliance soldier for the cameras, imprinted itself back in her mind, and she shook her head violently. The Resistance and the Alliance were equally capable of evil—so what did that make her?

Shinn blinked in surprise, grabbing Emily by the arm and stopping her. "Someone around the corner," he whispered. "But something is off..."

"What is it?" Emily asked, feeling her heartbeat quicken.

"I don't know," Shinn said, reaching into his pocket, where Emily knew he was carrying a loaded handgun. "Just play it cool."

Emily and Shinn rounded the corner, and Emily looked over in surprise at an empty lot. There was a girl there, who looked to be about her own age; long, unruly magenta hair spilled down her back, shimmering green eyes sparkled on her face, as she threw herself back in the snow and swept her arms and legs back and forth, making a snow angel and giggling happily.

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, looking up at Shinn and Emily. "Hi! Didn't see ya there!" She leapt up to her feet and bounded up to the two Gundam pilots. "Wow! I haven't seen anyone else out here today! Wonder where they all went?"

Shinn eyed the girl carefully for an instant. "It's very cold today," he began. "Most people are inside."

"Well, sucks to be them!" the girl giggled. "I like the snow! So more for me!" She looked over at Emily. "Hey, you must be as old as me! Awesome!" She grabbed Emily by the arm; Emily blinked in surprise and sputtered in protest as the girl yanked her forwards.

Shinn reached after her, but paused as the feeling of human life pricked his consciousness. He glanced to the side, and felt his blood run cold as a man in the dark service overcoat of the Earth Alliance, with the black uniform of the Phantom Pain underneath, emerged from around a corner.

"My apologies," the man chuckled; Shinn carefully eyed the man who seemed so young and yet wore the collar tabs of a colonel. "That girl is quite good at causing trouble." He cast a smile after her—Shinn nearly shuddered as he detected something sinister behind it. "I'm responsible for her, so I have to clean up a lot of her messes."

_That girl,_ Shinn thought, disbelief rising through him, as he looked back at Emily and the magenta-haired girl, watching the girl pelt Emily with snowballs. The strange, distorted pressure...it was clear as day now. _Oh, great..._

"It's cold out here," the Phantom Pain officer said with a sigh. "I don't know why she insists on going out in weather like this."

"She said she enjoys it," Shinn said carefully, glancing back at the officer.

"I suppose," the officer said with a shrug.

Shinn glanced back at Emily and the Extended girl, trying to fight down the sickening feeling in his stomach.

—

"So what's your name?" the girl asked excitedly, as Emily wearily brushed a mountain of snow off her coat. She was no stranger to snowball fights, but she was also not very good at them.

"I-I'm Emily," she said carefully—better to leave her last name unknown. The world was full of girls named Emily, but not so full of girls named Emily von Oldendorf.

"Awesome!" the girl exclaimed. "I'm Kyali!"

Emily blinked at Kyali. "That's an unusual name," she said.

"Isn't it!" Kyali agreed, with a glowing grin. "Harry over there says it's special or somethin'! I dunno though." She glanced over at the two older men, slowly approaching. "Is that guy with the sunglasses your boyfriend?"

Emily's face flashed red as her eyes went wide. "Wha—no! He's...no, he's not my boyfriend!" she sputtered.

"Sure he's not," Kyali laughed. "I saw how you were looking at him! If this were a cartoon, there would be little hearts popping all around your head!"

Emily glanced aside in embarrassment. "Well, he's not like that," she muttered.

Kyali simply laughed and yanked Emily into the snow.

They both looked up as the footsteps came closer, and found Shinn and the Phantom Pain officer approaching. The officer stepped forward.

"Kyali," he said, "it's time to go."

Kyali glanced back sadly at Emily. "I don't wanna," she mumbled. "Come on! We never get a chance to go out! You said we weren't gonna have anything to do today—"

"Things have changed," the officer said. Emily blinked in surprise as the man's visage suddenly turned colder than the environment in which it stood. On the street nearby, a black-painted van pulled up, and a handful of soldiers in the black uniforms and overcoats of the Phantom Pain emerged, and Emily scuttled back to Shinn's side as fear coursed through her.

Kyali cast her wide eyes towards the approaching soldiers. "What are they doing here? Harry, come on, this is unfair—"

"If you don't," the man said, "then you might disappear."

Kyali's eyes flashed wide in horror—Emily winced as the fear struck through the air and stabbed like a knife into her brain.

"_No!_" Kyali screamed, struggling to scramble back to her feet. "_I don't want to disappear!_"

The soldiers rushed in to seize her by the arms and hurl her into the back of the van, her screams echoing out from the van's interior as they slammed the doors shut.

"Wha—what's going on?" Emily exclaimed. She turned her disbelieving eyes towards the Phantom Pain officer as he strode towards the van. "What's wrong with her?"

The officer glanced back at her, and Emily felt her heart stop. "It's none of your concern," he said.

The officer climbed into the van, and with a screech of tires it rounded a corner and vanished into the city. Emily stared after it in disbelief, her eyes falling to the snow, and the marks of Kyali's short-lived struggle there.

Shinn put his hand on her shoulder—she jumped in surprise and looked up at him. "What...what was that...?"

Shinn looked sadly at her. She wasn't ready for this, he knew...but fate didn't seem to care.

"Emily," he said, "that girl, Kyali...she's an Extended."

—

To be continued...


	11. Phase 11: A Series of Sacrifices

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 11 - A Series of Sacrifices

—

**March 2nd, CE 77 - Murmansk, Russia**

The word "Extended" planted itself in Emily's brain and spread sickening black tendrils of horror through her as she stared after the corner the black van had retreated around. An Extended—an artificially modified human being meant to serve solely as a weapon—but that girl, those vivacious eyes, that glowing smile...

"H-How...?" she murmured.

Shinn closed his eyes sadly. "I suppose you're too much of a neophyte right now to sense it," he said. "Extended exert different pressures on a Newtype's mind than regular humans, because their brains and emotional makeup have been altered so much. The only way I can describe it is that it feels like a distorted version of a normal human." He shook his head. "That was the pressure I was sensing from that girl."

"But...how can someone like her—" Emily started helplessly.

"Be an Extended?" Shinn finished. "You'll have to ask the Alliance. I've lived and worked among Extended for four years, and I've risked my life more times than I can remember protecting one."

Emily looked down brokenly at the snow, where the scattered remains of Kyali's snow angel were still visible. "She...she was like me..." she murmured. "But someone like her...an Extended..."

"I was hoping we wouldn't run into an Extended for a while," Shinn added. "Your powers aren't very well developed so far. I was hoping we could dodge this bullet until you were more experienced, but I guess fate had other ideas."

Emily barely heard him, staring down into the snow.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Poljarny Inlet Naval Installation, Russia**

The look in the eyes of Aleksandr Pegodin was not one to be crossed as his grim visage appeared on the _Minerva_'s main screen. On the bridge, Abbey looked up in surprise from her clipboard, standing by Roxy's console.

"Admiral," she started, offering a salute, "what is it?"

Pegodin quickly returned it. "There's a problem," he said. "Long range radar shows an Alliance fleet steaming out of Svalbard. The likeliest target in their path is Poljarny."

"An Alliance fleet out of Svalbard...?" Abbey repeated. "How many ships?"

"Thirty, so far," Pegodin answered. "The commander appears to be Bartholomew Stone. Intel says that he served in space for a while, before being transferred to Earth and inducted into the Phantom Pain to command its surface forces." He shook his head. "This base has one Aurora spy plane. We sent it on a recon pass over the fleet, and the ship that is probably Stone's flagship is towing a massive container in the water behind it. There's no telling what's in it."

"I understand," Abbey said dourly. "Captain Hawke is indisposed right now, but I'll pass the message along at once." She paused—perhaps it was not her place to say, but say she would anyway. "Although I am confident that we will remain and donate our forces to Poljarny's defense."

Pegodin blinked. "Perhaps Captain Hawke—" he started.

"I've served under Captain Hawke's command for three years, admiral," Abbey interrupted. "I have no doubt that our Gundams will be defending Poljarny again. What is the ETA for Stone's fleet?"

Pegodin consulted something on his end. "They should arrive tomorrow morning, although the Aurora was unable to get accurate information on their speed."

"Then that simply provides us more time to prepare," Abbey said. "We will be ready for them, admiral."

—

"The gunbarrels are up by point-six percent," Auel noted tiredly as he stared at the display in front of him. "Now where does that fall on the Sting Oakley Bell Curve 'o Acceptability?"

Sitting in the cockpit and tinkering with the Chaos Gundam's operating system, Sting paused to take a healthy swig of coffee. "I can do better," he said, clicking the coffee cup shut and balancing it back on the top of the cockpit display. "The whole mobile weapon pod system is limited by the dexterity of my input, but that's no reason not to make it as responsive as possible."

"If you say so," Auel sighed. "This must be why I got the Abyss. It's just a bunch of fucking beam cannons."

"Hey, don't go bashing my Chaos," Sting answered. "I'd be stardust if it weren't for this thing."

Auel scoffed and glanced out of the Chaos's cockpit, across the hangar. "I see they got the Twilight repaired."

Sting glanced up from his cockpit display. "Yeah, Vino spent the night attaching a new M2000GX, after Emily got the first one trashed against that Raider unit."

Auel scoffed again. "_That_ was FUBAR," he grumbled. "I still don't understand how she hasn't gotten shot down yet. Being a Newtype doesn't let you just figure out how to pilot mobile suits with no prior experience. Not after we had to bust our asses learning how to pilot these Gundams."

Sting paused a moment as he adjusted a dial. "Athrun said that she seems to be relying on instinct," he pointed out. "But mobile suit piloting skills are not something you know instinctually. So there must be something else about her."

"Other than Jesus fucking Christ pulling for her, apparently," Auel snorted.

"I guess so," Sting agreed. "Run the diagnostic code on the gunbarrel guidance program again. I think I finally got it."

"That's what you said last time," Auel sighed, taking up the laptop again.

—

It was meant to be a development of the ZGMF-X13A Providence Gundam, and standing on the gantry before its gaping cockpit hatch, Rau had to admit that "development" was a fairly kind word in regards to the Legend Gundam. It was clearly little more than an upgraded version of the Providence, with a new configuration for its DRAGOONs, a more orthodox arrangement for its beam sabers, and the addition of those handy beam shields. Although he had no doubt that he could easily wreak havoc with this machine in space, he had his doubts over how effective it would be on Earth. The manual had said that the DRAGOON units' beam cannons were usable under gravity, if not the all-range units themselves, but only an actual combat sortie would tell.

"At long last," he chuckled, as he sensed the burning presence of Athrun Zala approaching, "I finally get my hands on the Legend Gundam." He glanced over at Athrun with a smile. "I was originally slated for it in CE 73, but let's just say that didn't work out as planned."

Athrun's eyes flashed vindictively. "Why are you here?" he snapped. "What's your motive?"

Rau only laughed. "Athrun, you wound me. Must you be so cruel to as assume that every action I take is attached to an ulterior motive?"

"Your Godforsaken life has been governed by ulterior motives," Athrun shot back.

"Godforsaken," Rau repeated with a grin. "You remain as eloquent and insightful as ever, young Zala."

"You're the one who nearly destroyed the world. Don't cry about how _you_ got the short stick."

"Athrun, Athrun, I only showed the door for the world," Rau said. "It was the world that nearly walked through it. Kindly refrain from blaming me for all human failures, please."

Athrun scowled. "Answer my question. What are you doing here? You can't manipulate any of us into being your little attack dogs, like you did to Kira."

Rau smiled back. "Who says I have to?"

Athrun's eyes flashed, and he stalked away.

—

"You're back," Abes said as he glanced down the gantry, at Shinn and Emily as they emerged from the biting cold. Next to Abes, in front of the silent Gaia Gundam, Stella's eyes lit up in joy.

"Shinn!" she exclaimed, rushing over to him. Shinn hugged her with a smile.

"What'd I miss?" he asked. He glanced over at Abes, and the grimness within him wiped Shinn's smile away.

"An Alliance fleet out of Svalbard, bound for Poljarny, is what you missed," Abes said. "Admiral Stone is allegedly in command, and they've got some kind of giant container with them. Lord knows what's inside it."

"Well, we had to fight to set this place up," Shinn said, shoving his sunglasses back into his pocket. "Guess we'll have to fight to keep it standing, too."

"Shinn's not scared," Stella piped up. "Shinn's never scared!"

"And that's why sometimes I think Shinn is crazy," Abes deadpanned. He glanced over at Emily. "Now would be a good time to start tuning the Twilight. The Alliance fleet's ETA is sometime tomorrow morning."

Emily glanced up numbly at Abes. "Okay," she murmured, slipping by him and heading towards the Twilight. Abes glanced after her in curiosity.

"What's wrong with her now?" he asked.

"We...ran into an Extended in Murmansk," Shinn said grimly. "It's not sitting well with her." He sighed heavily. "I tried to save her from terrible things happening to her, but it looks like terrible things are going to happen to her anyway."

"It's war," Abes pointed out. "Terrible things happen to everyone."

"I know," Shinn sighed, "but...I'm starting to wonder if I did the right thing by bringing her in."

Stella hugged him tightly from the side. "Emily is our friend," she said, "so we have to protect her."

Abes shrugged. "Stella's logic wins again," he said. "Stella, we should get back to work on the Gaia."

Stella nodded and let go of Shinn, turning back towards her Gundam. Shinn glanced towards the Twilight, and wondered if he had been right.

—

"Y'know, you really need to be more sociable or something."

Athrun glanced up from his angry brooding in front of the Infinite Justice, and found a metal hand on the railing next to him. He followed the skeletal artificial arm up to Viveka's face, and blinked at her.

"When I was little and the tutors made me study history," she went on, "they made me study some war in the 20th century. And they made me watch a documentary about the soldiers who came home after fighting it. How a whole bunch of them were homeless and deserted by the country they fought for, how they turned into bitter, angry shells of men." She looked at him warily. "That's what you're reminding me of."

"...sorry," Athrun offered with a shrug—what was he supposed to do about it?

"So stop it!" Viveka exclaimed. "Jeez, dude, I know you have a hate-on for the Phantom of the Opera over there, but lighten up a bit. If you forget to act like a human, you start turning into the Phantom Pain." She leaned back against the railing and sighed. "Why _are_ you in the Resistance anyway?"

Athrun smiled bitterly. "I've been in the military since I was fifteen," he answered. "Fighting is the only marketable skill I have anymore."

"Don't be so melodramatic," Viveka grumbled.

"No, really," Athrun answered. "I joined ZAFT after the Bloody Valentine. When I was sixteen, I went from ZAFT to the Three Ships Alliance, then the Orb Raiders. After Solomon's Sword I went into the Resistance." He shrugged again. "Fighting is what I do."

Viveka glanced over at him. "...you were in the Orb Raiders?"

She blinked in surprise as Athrun's whole visage darkened—apparently she had struck a nerve. "Yes," he said, before she could speak. "I was in the Orb Raiders."

Viveka watched him carefully, as tears appeared in his eyes and he squeezed them away, and decided to say no more.

—

"Welcome back, 007!" Roxy laughed, as Shinn tiredly strode into the _Minerva_'s crew lounge. Roxy was sprawled out on one of the chairs, with a fifth of Smirnoff in hand. "How many star-struck girls threw themselves at you to ravish at will today?"

"You're never going to let me forget about that little incident in Aruba, are you?" Shinn sighed as he headed for the vending machine.

"Your face was as red as the Justice!" Roxy cackled. "And she had that tattoo on her—"

"Okay, stop," Shinn cut her off, yanking a can of soda out of the machine and cracking it open. "Whenever a foreign babe comes to me looking for some lovin' with the wings of light, I can always count on you to make fun of me for it."

"Somebody's gotta do it," Roxy shot back. "So how was Murmansk?"

Shinn took a swig of soda and sighed. "We ran into an Extended." His eyes darkened. "It shook Emily up. I was hoping she'd be able to get more acclimated to her senses before we ran into any enemy Extended."

Roxy arched an eyebrow. "What's the difference between the ones on this ship and the ones the Alliance still has on a leash?"

Shinn sighed again and leaned against the wall. "Extended give off a weird kind of pressure to a Newtype," he explained. "It's like listening to someone speak through a distorted microphone. But with the ones on this ship, I've been around Stella for four years, and I've been around Sting and Auel for three. I'm used to their pressure. It's when a new Extended that I haven't been around shows up that I start feeling pressure."

"Okay," Roxy said, "but won't Emily just go batshit over anything, at this point in her, uh, Newtype career?"

"The Extended's Phantom Pain caretaker was there too," Shinn replied. "Where there's an Extended and a Phantom Pain officer, there's probably a Phantom Pain unit. And we're not exactly keeping a low profile here." He shook his head. "She's not ready to fight an Extended. That aura...she'll have to recognize it."

Roxy was quiet a moment. "Maybe you could fight the Extended," she offered.

"I'll have to," Shinn sighed. "And she was just a little girl who liked the snow..."

Roxy sat back and downed the rest of her drink. "Well, keep telling stories like that," she said, "and we'll never run out of reasons to fight."

—

**March 3rd, CE 77 - Earth Alliance aircraft carrier **_**Actium**_**, Poljarny Inlet, Russia**

"There it is, admiral," the _Actium_'s captain said, with no shortage of excitement evident in his voice. "They haven't launched their fleet yet."

"They will," Bartholomew Stone said, scanning over the enemy arrayed before him. Very few modern ships, he noted—instead their fleet was made up mostly of AD-era naval warships, vessels that had long ago been antiquated and decommissioned, but apparently never destroyed. He picked up the intercom.

"...sir, is that an _Arleigh Burke_-class?" the captain asked, stunned. "These are pre-Cosmic Era warships, admiral. I saw some of these in my Naval History classes at the Academy. Are they serious about this?"

"I suppose it would be in the interest of charity to at least offer them a chance to surrender," Stone chuckled, "rather than trying to use this fleet of museum exhibits against us." He picked up the intercom and threw a switch. "Attention Resistance stronghold of Poljarny," he said, "this is Admiral Bartholomew Stone of the Phantom Pain. We are here with a fleet and mobile suits to crush you, once and for all. But as we look upon your antiquated weapons and your hopeless position, we are not without hearts—and so we offer you this one chance, to surrender now and keep your lives. Otherwise, we will be merciless in sending you to the bottom of the inlet.'

Stone looked on in surprise as one of the enemy destroyers signaled back in Morse code, "_go fuck yourselves._"

"Um, sir, I think they're saying no," one of the bridge crew stammered. "The enemy ships are launching."

Stone only smiled. "Someone in that fleet has guts," he chuckled. "I will enjoy watching my men pull them out of him."

"Admiral," the comm officer spoke, "message from the _Bonaparte_."

The screen came to life with the face of a young man in the uniform of a colonel in the Phantom Pain, with the Alliance's standard-issue black overcoat. He offered a sharp salute.

"Admiral Stone," he said. "Colonel Harris Meyers. Your message received."

Stone smiled again. "Excellent," he said, returning Harris's salute. "I understand your unit is outside Murmansk, and within striking distance of Poljarny. How you managed to stay under their radar I can only guess, but my fleet is in the inlet right now."

"So I heard," Harris answered. "The entire base is waiting for you, sir."

"This time we have a Destroy Gundam," Stone chuckled.

"But sir, they have the _Minerva_," Harris countered. "The _Minerva_ eats Destroy Gundams for breakfast."

"They have yet to face a Destroy piloted by a graduate of the reformulated training regimen," Stone scoffed. "Either way, the more firepower we can bring to bear on Poljarny, the better. Use your unit to launch a diversionary strike and split their forces. Just to be safe, see if you can lure the _Minerva_'s mobile suits away. Keep them busy while I soften the Resistance fleet up and then set the Destroy loose on them. The Destroy will be unstoppable."

"Understood, sir," Harris said.

Stone smirked. "I'm looking forward to seeing your Extended in action, colonel."

Harris smiled back. "She won't disappoint, admiral. Meyers out."

The screen went dark again, and Stone grinned up ahead at the approaching Resistance fleet. "All units, commence operation!"

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Murmansk Oblast, Russia**

The locker door slammed shut, and Harris Meyers looked on impassively, arms crossed, as his Extended zipped up her gray and purple flight suit, helmet in hand. She glanced up at the young colonel apprehensively.

"This is your first mission since the Alta incident," he said. "I'm sure you understand that you must not fail."

Kyali Sekar nodded nervously. "Or you'll take away the Strike..."

"You're lucky to still have it," Harris said sternly. "Headquarters wanted to send you back to Althea."

Fear flashed through Kyali's eyes, but she crushed it—Harry never liked it when she was afraid. She put her helmet on anxiously and closed the seals.

"I just have to fight," she said. "Right?"

"Attack until ordered otherwise," Harris said. "I will be in the Aegis." He stood up. "Let's go."

The two pilots emerged into the sprawling hangar of the _Bonaparte_, where the pilots of the ship's contingent of mobile suits were coming to life. Harris rode up the zip-line into the cockpit of the towering Rosso Aegis, settling into the cockpit seat and shutting the hatch. He cracked his knuckles and flipped on the squadron frequency.

"We're going up against the _Minerva_ today, ladies and gentlemen," he said ominously. "I expect to see a hell of a fight out there." He glanced up at the hangar ceiling. "Open the main hatch."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Poljarny Inlet Naval Installation, Russia**

"A landship?"

Meyrin looked on in disbelief as the image of a _Hannibal_-class land battleship, approaching Poljarny from the south and launching mobile suits, flashed into view on the _Minerva_'s main screen. She struggled to force down the shock—a captain had to deal with unforeseen contingencies.

"Intel had nothing on this," Abbey growled from her spot next to Meyrin's chair. "I thought it was just the fleet in the inlet!"

"They must have been hiding out nearby," Meyrin said. "Shield the bridge and go to Condition Red."

"We have to do something about that ship," Abbey insisted, as the bridge sank down into its combat position. "Pegodin deployed most of his forces forward to meet the fleet."

"But that's only one ship," Meyrin murmured, reaching back into the library of past experience. She shook her head. "Order the mobile suits to intercept this unit. If we're lucky, we can take it out quickly and get them back to the battle at hand."

—

"This will be your first major battle, Emily," Shinn's voice said grimly, as Emily started up the Twilight Gundam and wrapped her blue overcoat tighter around herself. She glanced over at him, pulling on a pair of brown leather gloves—best to stay warm, she told herself. "Up until now it's just been skirmishes. This one will have dozens of mobile suits on either side. Just stick with the rest of us and we'll tell you what to do."

"Alright," she said nervously. The Twilight shook as the Twilight stepped onto the catapult.

"Twilight, this is the bridge," Roxy's voice cut in. "Launch vector is clear. Timing is all yours."

Emily braced herself—time to go back to war.

"Emily von Oldendorf, Twilight, taking off!"

The Twilight lunged forward, and Emily ground her teeth as the G-forces threw her back in her seat. At last, the Twilight eased up into the air, and she arced around to point her Gundam to the south, where a second Alliance force was approaching. She fell into formation next to the _Minerva_'s other Gundams, glancing up at the fearless Destiny as it cruised forward.

To be as fearless as the man inside it...Emily shook her head. Now all she could do was hope that the instinct would be back.

—

"Sergeant," Harris's voice said, filling the cockpit and the ears of its pilot, "take a team of Dark Windams with you and try to hit the _Minerva_ itself in the port. The Sword Calamity is well-equipped for that role. The _Minerva_ was damaged by the _Charlemagne_ and the late Colonel Shoyou—let's see if we can't inflict a little more."

Inside the black-painted Sword Calamity, clutching a Windam's beam rifle and cruising forward on a sub-wing unit, Sergeant Major Gregory Hayden flashed a grin and narrowed his green eyes at the base ahead. "Understood, sir," he said. "Fourth squad, follow me—the warship _Minerva_ is our target!"

The Sword Calamity banked down, with four Jet Dark Windams in formation behind it. He struggled to push the memories of his grueling training to qualify on this damn Gundam at Volkov Crater behind him—finally, he was going to prove that he could fight in this thing. He keyed open the viewfinder and magnified the image of the majestic _Minerva_ in dock—helpless and alone.

"Sergeant," the squad's commander said, "what will we do about the _Minerva_'s mobile suits?"

"Colonel Meyers will keep them occupied," Hayden said. "We'll hit the mothership, and get it incapacitated before anyone can stop us. And while we're there, we might as well inflict as much other damage as we can." He grinned. "This is the moment I've been waiting for, men! _Let's go!_"

—

Shinn felt his muscles ripple with adrenaline as the Destiny Gundam sailed into battle with the Gaia at its side. Up ahead, he recognized the bright red armor of what looked like an Aegis Gundam unit—but clearly different, with the large wings and crimson colors of what Shinn recognized was the Aegis's upgraded descendent, the Rosso Aegis.

"Let's do this the way we always do," Shinn told Stella, arming the Destiny's beam rifle. "I'll distract him, you get behind him or flank him."

"Understood," Stella answered. Shinn smiled—in battle she was the ferocious berserker he knew he didn't have to protect.

The two Gundams raised their beam rifles and opened fire—as expected, the Rosso Aegis showed increased agility as it ducked around the shots, whipping its own rifle up to fire back. Shinn glanced over at the Gaia. "Stella, go!"

The Gaia took off—Shinn charged forward, roaring in close and switching to his anti-ship sword. He brought it down with a scream—the Rosso Aegis ducked away, igniting a beam saber on its right foot and bringing it up for a killing slash—

"I don't think so!" Shinn snapped—he pounded the saber aside with his sword and brought it around for another slash, but as he let the sword fall, the Rosso Aegis jammed its shield into his path, stopping his blow cold.

The Gaia slid around the Rosso Aegis, beam rifle leveled off, but the crimson enemy snapped its own rifle up to fire first. Shinn surged forward with a blast from the Destiny's thrusters, throwing the Rosso Aegis back.

"Forgetting someone?" Shinn roared—the Destiny activated its beam wings with a flash. "Stella, reverse roles! Distract him and I'll take him out!"

"Understood!" Stella answered—the Gaia blasted into the Rosso Aegis's face with a rocket-assisted shoulder ram, switching to its beam saber and bringing it down with a crash on the Rosso Aegis's desperately-raised shield. Shinn whirled around the Rosso Aegis in a blur of afterimages, sword raised high for a killing blow, but before he could land it, the Rosso Aegis whipped its rifle around to open fire and force Shinn on the defensive.

"Not bad for such an old machine," Shinn grunted, spiraling around for another attack. "But if you're that Phantom Pain bastard from Murmansk, then I'll take you down right here!"

—

A volley of beam blasts came flying out of nowhere, and with a yelp of surprise, Emily slammed on the Twilight's brakes, throwing herself back into the cockpit seat as the shots seared by in front of her. She scanned the skies for her attacker—something in the overcast sky glinted in the scant sunlight, and a roar of engines split the air.

"What is _that?_" she exclaimed. Overhead, a white and black mobile suit with the face of a Gundam and a winged, black and red backpack came streaking out of the heavens, beam rifle and shield in hand.

Inside the Aile Strike E, Kyali Sekar sized up her foe. A black Gundam that looked similar to the famous Destiny—but she would not fail. She knew what would happen if she did.

The Strike E opened fire—Emily yanked her machine to the side, dodging the enemy machine's fire, and deployed her beam shield as the Strike E trained its gun after the dodging Twilight. She grunted in frustration as the Strike E's blasts slammed against her shield—no more of this. She couldn't hide behind this shield forever—studying her own combat footage had been embarrassing enough. The Strike E charged, beam rifle blazing—Emily's eyes flashed as the white bolt split the air—

With a crash, the Twilight Gundam jammed its right leg forward, stopping the Strike E cold with a punishing kick to the stomach. As the Strike floundered, Emily followed up with a devastating butterfly kick with the Twilight's left leg to the side of the Strike's head. The white Gundam went reeling, and Emily silently thanked Shinn for teaching her to use the Twilight's martial arts programming.

Her eyes went wide as a strange sensation passed through her. Pressure, pushing against her mind...but it felt strange, unnatural. She looked at the Strike E in fear—was this sensation coming from there?

The Strike E managed to regain its balance—Emily shook her head. She could not let the fear return—she snapped her rifle up and opened fire. The Strike E deflected her shots with its shield, drew its beam saber and charged.

"A beam saber..." Emily breathed. "I can fight like that too!"

The Twilight seized its right-hand beam boomerang, the saber blade flashed to life, and Emily brought it down with a scream, just as the Strike E swept its own saber horizontally towards the Twilight's waist, and the two Gundams came crashing together.

—

"So, Viveka," Athrun said, as the Infinite Justice pounded a volley of beam blasts into the shields of the oncoming Jet Dark Windam squad, "how do you like the Savior?"

Up above, the Savior in mobile armor mode shot down towards the second squad of Windams, beam cannons blazing. The Windams pulled back behind their shields—with a flash, the Savior transformed into mobile suit mode, its V-fin catching the subdued sunlight, and snapped its beam rifle up to shower the Windams with more fire.

"You sure know what a woman wants," came the answer. "I'd kiss you if you weren't all the way over there."

Athrun expertly ignored the second comment. "It's one thing to fight Windams," he said, pausing as the first squad of Windams returned fire. He somersaulted over the shots and fired back, pounding more blasts into their shields and scattering the mobile suits. "It's another to kill them."

"Then let's go!"

The Savior lunged forward, beam cannons pouring firepower into the Windams' ranks. They returned fire with a wave of missiles, but the Savior cut them from the sky with a volley of CIWS bullets. Viveka flashed a grin as she reverted the Savior back to mobile armor mode, taking off with a blast of exhaust and raining beam shots down on the beleaguered Windams.

Inside the Infinite Justice, Athrun shook his head as Viveka gleefully ran circles around her foes' desperate attacks. Perhaps he was just jaded, but flying a Gundam wasn't _that_ fun.

One of the Windams charged towards the Justice, beam rifle blazing. Athrun narrowed his eyes at it and charged back, igniting his boomerang blade. The Windam slammed on the brakes, throwing its shield out in front of it—with a crash, Athrun slammed his blade into the Windam's shield, driving it back with sheer momentum.

"This is only the Phantom Pain," Athrun grunted, as the Windam fell back under cover fire from its comrades. "You're nothing."

—

"Sergeant, picking up two mobile suits!" the Fourth squad's commander cried. Inside the Sword Calamity, Hayden consulted his scopes—

A moment later, a hurricane of beam blasts slammed into the ground in front of him. He and his Windams slammed on the brakes, scanning the skies for his attacker.

In front of the Alliance mobile suits, the Abyss Gundam twirled its ignited beam lance over its head and pointed it vindictively at the waiting Sword Calamity and Windams.

"That's one of the _Minerva_'s Gundams!" the commander exclaimed.

"It's only one," Hayden snorted. "All units, spread out and attack!"

The Windams jetted apart as the Sword Calamity leveled off its beam rifle. Inside the Abyss, Auel only smirked.

"Idiots."

The Abyss snapped open its shoulder shells, pounding off a salvo of shells that sent two of the Windams down in flames, smashing into the ground with a pair of blazing fireballs. Hayden's eyes widened in disbelief—the Abyss charged, and hacked through the Sword Calamity's rifle in one stroke from its beam lance.

"Damned Gundam!" Hayden snarled, backing away and drawing his anti-ship swords. "Pull back and open—"

A beam shot lanced out of the heavens, punching through one of the Windams and blowing it apart in midair. Hayden glanced up in disbelief at it—a moment later, the Sword Calamity rocked as the Abyss pounded it with another volley of shells.

"Sergeant, we have to pull back!" the commander shouted. "We can't—"

An instant later, the Chaos Gundam dropped into the Windam's face and tore it in two with a beam claw-assisted kick across the torso. It turned as the last Windam exploded, flashing its eyes at the lone Sword Calamity.

"The whole squad, that quickly..." Hayden snarled. "Who do you think I am?"

The Chaos opened fire—the Sword Calamity skirted around the shots, brandishing its swords and charging in.

—

Inside the Legend Gundam, floating ahead of an oncoming squad of Jet Dark Windams, Rau Le Creuset smiled amusedly. That primordial urge for destruction had not been well sated in the GuAIZ—but now he had something far more suited to the task of killing people.

The Legend activated its beam cannons and fired, forcing the Windams apart. Rau grinned and charged, following up with his beam rifle. One of the Windams responded with a volley of missiles—Rau cut them out of the sky with a CIWS burst, plowing through the smoke and charging on with another volley of beam blasts.

"Impressive," he chuckled, as the blasts slammed against the Windams' shields and forced them back. "This Gundam will serve me well."

The Windams charged again with another missile volley—Rau only laughed, blasting them apart with another CIWS volley and charging back. One of the Windams swept in close, beam rifle blazing—

With a flash, the Legend drew a beam javelin from its left leg, igniting the blade and slicing it through the Windam's rifle. The Alliance mobile suit staggered back, abandoning its ruined rifle and switching to its beam saber—

Cackling all the way, Rau came down with a crash and sliced his beam javelin through the unsuspecting Windam, grinning as it exploded.

"Impressive indeed," he said, peering through the smoke at the remaining Windams. "Even with three years in the grave, Gilbert, you continue feeding me these wonderful toys!"

—

The two Gundams came together with a crash, and inside the Twilight Gundam, Emily grimaced as her machine rattled under the impact. "This Gundam...I have to stop this thing somehow..." She wracked her brain for a battle plan—this Strike E didn't appear to be carrying much more long-range weaponry than a beam rifle and maybe those two pistols. Perhaps she could take it down from afar?

The Strike never gave her a chance to continue that train of thought, surging forward with a blast of exhaust from its Aile Striker pack and throwing the Twilight back. Emily struggled to keep control, and swung her saber up into the Strike's path, blocking its blow with a crash. The Strike charged forward anyway, pushing the Twilight towards the earth below.

Emily snapped the Twilight's long-range cannon up into position, squeezing off a blast that forced the Strike back on the defensive. She charged up, saber in hand, retracting the cannon, and slammed her saber down into the Strike's outstretched blade, sending the white Gundam reeling.

Inside the Strike, Kyali shook her head angrily as her mobile suit scrambled for distance. "This guy..." She threw a switch on the side console. "_Bonaparte_, send me the Sword Striker!"

The Twilight charged in, saber raised—the Strike stabbed back, and Emily yelped in surprise, racing to parry the blow with her own saber. The two Gundams crashed together—the Strike sent the Twilight staggering back with a lightning-fast kick to the face. Emily shook her head as the Twilight tumbled backward, and fired the thrusters to regain her balance.

"Another unit...?" Emily murmured, glancing down at her scopes. "This guy has reinforcements?"

The Strike charged, beam saber held high.

—

**Earth Alliance aircraft carrier **_**Actium**_

"The _Charlottesville_ is reporting heavy damage, admiral," one of the bridge crew exclaimed. "Her skipper is giving the order to abandon ship."

"It's only a _Fraser_-class," Stone said dismissively, sitting back in his chair. "No great loss of firepower."

"Indeed," the _Actium_'s captain agreed, "but for such old vessels, they're putting up quite a fight."

"The ground forces are reporting heavy resistance from enemy MS, armor, and infantry," the crewman added. "He's requesting another barrage from the fleet."

"Tell him we'll send something even better," Stone said. "What is the status of our Destroy unit?"

Another crewman consulted his console. "Destroy unit Lambda 1 is fully operational and ready to sortie, admiral."

The captain glanced over at Stone. "Isn't it a bit soon to be deploying that thing?" he asked. "The Resistance forces can't hold out forever."

"I'm not going to wait that long," Stone answered. "Contact Svetlana and tell her to get the Destroy moving! We'll draw the Resistance forces away from the base! Target is Murmansk!"

—

The Gaia rocked as the Rosso Aegis brought its blazing yellow beam saber down onto Stella's shield. She scowled in frustration, firing the thrusters and sending the Rosso Aegis hurtling back—no Gundam would beat her here. She whirled around with her beam saber, bringing it down with a crash on the Rosso Aegis's shield.

"That won't beat me!" Stella snapped.

"Stella, back off!" Shinn shouted. Stella instinctually jammed the Gaia's controls back—an instant later, the Rosso Aegis changed form in a flash, transforming into its mobile armor attack mode and swiping furiously at the Gaia with its four beam sabers.

The Rosso Aegis jetted aside as Shinn's shimmering Destiny came down with a devastating overhead sword blow. It squeezed off a Scylla shot at the winged Gundam—Shinn smacked it aside with his beam shield, charging after the Rosso Aegis as it changed form again and stabbed forward with a beam saber.

Shinn's eyes flashed. "First mistake," he growled, as the Rosso Aegis rushed forward—

The air went white with energy as Shinn brought his sword back up, slashing through the Rosso Aegis's right arm at the elbow and letting the saber arm sail wide of the Destiny.

"_Never assume your enemy can't see the future!_" Shinn roared.

With a sickening crash, the Destiny slammed the Rosso Aegis square in the chest with a devastating kick, sending it spiraling out of the sky. Shinn retracted his sword and returned it to its rack, drawing his beam rifle and glancing over at the Gaia.

"Emily might be in trouble," he said to Stella. "We'd better go find her."

The two Gundams rocketed away with a flash.

—

The Windams quailed as another storm of beam fire thinned their ranks by one. Its pilot cackling all the way, the Legend Gundam burst through the smoke and leveled off its beam rifle at the remaining two Windams. They pulled back with a shower of beam rifle blasts—Rau merely laughed and ducked around their shots with expert ease.

"Merely against these things..." he chuckled. The Windams took off with a flash, splitting up—Rau grinned as one of them whirled around him— "Too late!"

The Legend pitched forward, somersaulting over the first Windam's desperate beam volley, and stabbed its beam javelin down into the Windam's cockpit. The black Alliance machine died in a blaze—Rau smiled and opened fire with the Legend's DRAGOONs, angling them backward and blowing apart the second Windam as it leveled off its rifle for a killing blow.

"And to think you were the cream of Lord Djibril's crop," he laughed.

The Legend flashed its eyes and took off.

—

"Only Windams," came Athrun's determined voice, "_you're nothing!_"

Filling the sky with exhaust, the Infinite Justice somersaulted gracefully over the beam blasts of the Windams. He came down in front of the first Windam, slicing in two with a scissors kick strengthened by both of his leg beam blades. Even as the Windam exploded, he lunged out of the smoke, firing his Grapple Stinger anchor forward to snare the next Windam's beam rifle, and with a crash, he yanked the rifle from his foe's hands and sent it spiraling towards the ground.

The Windams pulled back, the remaining two covering their outgunned comrade as it drew its beam saber. Athrun charged through the smoke, dancing effortlessly over their beam shots, igniting his boomerang blade. With a scream, he swept down into the second Windam, slicing in two at the waist as it desperately tried to stab forward with its saber.

"Don't they train you to use sabers?" he snapped, leaping up over the dying second Windam and spearing the third on a beam rifle shot.

The last Windam turned to flee—Athrun narrowed his eyes, snapping up the Grapple Stinger and firing it forward, digging into the Windam's back. He yanked the anchor back, impaling the Windam on the beam blade, and impassively let his dead opponent fall to an explosive end.

"Viveka," he said calmly, glancing across the battlefield, "what's going on over there?"

Across the way, Viveka flashed a wild grin as the Savior rocketed through the air. She glanced over her good shoulder, slamming on the brakes as the Windams chased after her. The Windams overshot her—she transformed the Gundam into its mobile suit mode and tore two of them from the sky with a pair of devastating plasma cannon bursts to the back.

"I'm kicking _ass_," she laughed, as the remaining Windams whirled around to dodge her follow-up attacks, "that's what."

The remaining Windams came streaking in, beam rifles blazing. Viveka took cover behind her shield, clamping the Savior's beam rifle onto its rear skirt armor, as the Windams' beam blasts pounded against the shield.

"Viveka," Athrun said, "what are you doing? Viveka—"

"Watch and learn, hero-boy!"

The Savior drew both of its beam sabers with a flash, and charged forward before the two Windams could react, sawing them both in half at the waist. And as casually as a Gundam could look, the Savior glanced over its shoulder at the Infinite Justice, as both Windams collapsed towards the ground and exploded.

"Impressed?" she asked, as the Savior switched back to its beam rifle.

"A little," Athrun admitted with a shrug.

"A _little?_" Viveka echoed, as the Savior turned towards the battlefield. "That sounds like a challenge!"

—

"Bastards!" roared Hayden as the Sword Calamity quaked under a shell volley from the Abyss Gundam. "You can't punch through my armor with that!"

"Sting! The sub-wing!" Auel shouted down below.

"I've got it!" Sting answered—a beam blast came soaring out of the sky, puncturing the Sword Calamity's sub-wing unit.

"_What—?_" Hayden cried. "They double-teamed me!"

The Sword Calamity kicked its ruined sub-wing towards the Abyss. Auel cut it out of the sky with a beam cannon barrage as the Sword Calamity landed staggeringly. Hayden looked up as the sensors wailed—a moment later, he threw his machine back as the Chaos came down with a crash, beam claws ignited. It followed up with a volley of beam rifle shots—the Sword Calamity backflipped over them and returned fire with its chest cannon.

Sting deflected the blast with his shield, letting the momentum drive him back through the ground. "Auel!"

The Abyss Gundam leapt up above the Chaos, shoulder shells flying open, and let loose with a beam cannon and Callidus cannon barrage. The Sword Calamity threw itself towards the ground, landing hard on its shoulder with a crash and leaping back to its feet. Hayden's eyes flashed furiously as he drew the Sword Calamity's beam boomerangs, sending them both hurtling towards the two Gundams—

"You think we haven't seen _that_ before?" Auel screamed, showering both boomerangs with beam cannon blasts and blowing them out of the air.

"This guy's not half-bad," Sting said, as the Abyss landed heavily next to the Chaos.

"Yeah, well, he's only half-good too," Auel shot back. "Let's go!"

—

"The Sword Striker!" Kyali cried, glancing to the side at the sight of the Sword Striker-laden Skygrasper streaking into battle.

"Corporal!" the pilot shouted. "Sword Striker, on target! Release on my mark!"

The Aile Strike E took off—Emily watched in surprise, wondering if it was retreating. She glanced to towards the approaching Skygrasper—reinforcements? The Twilight whipped its beam rifle up to open fire, but a moment later, the Skygrasper fired off a volley of beam cannon blasts, forcing Emily back behind her beam shield.

"What the—is it changing equipment?" Emily exclaimed. She dug back into her memory of mobile suits—the Strike E was capable of switching to specialized equipment at will in combat. "A sword?"  
The Aile Strike E ducked the Twilight's beam rifle blasts, ejecting its Aile pack and shield, and linking up instead with the sky-blue Sword Striker pack. The Skygrasper ejected a sub-wing unit underneath its fuselage, and the Sword Strike E landed with a crash on it, stowing its beam rifle on its rear skirt armor and drawing the massive Schwert Gewehr with a flash.

Kyali grinned. "Nothing like a big sword to help you kick some ass!" she cried. "Here I come, Gundam!"

The Sword Strike E charged, brandishing its Schwert Gewehr. Emily yelped in surprise and took off backward as the Strike took sweeping swipes at her with the enormous sword.

"How do I beat that thing?" she shouted. "The Arondight—!" Shinn's lecturing was there to remind her not to use the anti-ship sword unless she knew what she was doing with it—which, in this situation, was the long way of telling her not to use it. "How can I fight this thing with just the saber?"

"Done already?" Kyali laughed. "Stop running, Gundam! I wanna play!"

The Twilight whirled around, saber in hand—the Strike E charged, sword in hand, and the two Gundams came together with a crash.

Inside the Twilight, something beeped. Emily glanced up at the auxiliary screen, where Shinn's grim face appeared on the right-hand screen.

"Emily," he said, "break off from that thing. We've got a problem."

"I'm kinda stuck," Emily protested, as the Strike put all its momentum behind the sword and sent the Twilight hurtling back. "What's wrong?"

Emily never heard Shinn's answer, as instead, the ground quaked. Emily looked frantically towards the inlet as a tower of smoke rose up from the dockyard. A flurry of beams broke out of it, spearing an entire squadron of Resistance mobile suits in midair and blowing them apart—and the ground shook again as something emerged from the smoke.

"_That_," Shinn said, "is what's wrong."

Across the battlefield, wreathed in smoke and fire, the sky lit up with a baneful flash from the eyes of the Destroy Gundam.

—

To be continued...


	12. Phase 12: The God of Death

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 12 - The God of Death

—

**March 3rd, CE 77 - Poljarny Inlet Naval Installation, Russia**

The titanic Destroy Gundam loomed above Poljarny in mobile armor mode, spewing firepower into the base and blowing away the Resistance forces. The survivors fired back desperately, but the multicolor wall of energy of a positron reflector deflected their shots harmlessly.

"_That's_ a Destroy?" Emily wailed helplessly. "It's huge!"

The Sword Strike E charged, sword upraised—Emily threw the Twilight back to avoid its sword stroke, racing back on the defensive.

Across the battlefield, Athrun Zala froze in disbelief at the specter of the Destroy. Yzak Jule's last words rang in his ears, the gut-wrenching feeling of Mwu La Fllaga vanishing in a puff of fire returned, that terrible day in CE 74 played itself out again in his mind—

"Athrun!" Viveka's voice cut in. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Shit, there's an Extended in there!" Shinn growled. The Destiny roared in along the ground, brandishing its anti-ship sword. "Get in close and take this thing down!"

"But there's an Extended in it!" Auel's voice protested from somewhere in the base. "You guys can't—"

"There's no reasoning with an Extended in a Destroy," Sting's voice shot back. "The Destroy has an IV into the pilot that keeps them on a constant feed of psychoactive drugs. You pilot that thing, you'll go insane!"

"How many more of these damn things does the Alliance have!" Shinn roared. "Stella, Athrun, anyone who's free, that thing's going for the city! _Come on!_"

—

Emily clenched her fists around the Twilight's controls as the Sword Strike E brought its Schwert Gewehr down onto her beam shield with a crash. The Twilight went spiraling out of control towards the ground—and, Emily noted with a sickening feeling, the city of Murmansk. A battle like this would demolish that city, and kill countless people—didn't anyone care about that?

Inside the Strike E, Kyali grinned as her enemy struggled to regain control. "Too late! _You're mine!_"

"I have to deal with this one first," Emily murmured, as the Strike E charged. "Come on, Twilight!"

The Strike E sent its left-hand Panzer Eisen rocket anchor streaking forward—Emily blinked in surprise as the instinct rose through her, and with a flash, she brought her beam saber down through the anchor, ripping it in two.

"What the—?" Kyali cried. "Damn you, that was a lucky shot!"

The Strike E ejected its useless anchor and charged, brandishing its sword. Emily thrust her shield forward, tensing for the blow as the Strike E brought its sword down and rattled the Twilight. She yanked the controls back to dodge the Strike E's next punishing sword blow, sending the Twilight spiraling down towards Murmansk.

"We can't fight like this in the city!" Emily wailed. She whirled around, activating her long-range cannon and opening fire, but the Strike E expertly dodged her shots. "Why are you making me fight here?" She threw the Twilight back again to dodge another sword stroke. "You'll kill so many people...! Why are you fighting like this?"

Kyali scowled down at her fleeing opponent. "And this guy is supposed to be a Gundam," she growled. "What kind of Gundam runs away!"

—

"These Destroys...!" Athrun snarled, as the Infinite Justice darted across the sky, the Savior Gundam on its heels, towards the towering Destroy as it approached Murmansk. "These things should not exist!"

The Destroy leveled off its massive Aufprall Dreizhen cannons and opened fire, sending a wave of shimmering red beam blasts pounding across the battlefield. They smashed into Murmansk, and a cluster of buildings—and hundreds of lives—vanished in a pillar of smoke.

"Dammit! They're attacking the city!" Shinn growled. "The Phantom Pain...they'll wipe out all of Murmansk if that thing goes any further!"

"What was Sting talking about with the drugs and all?" Viveka asked, as the Savior fell into formation next to the Justice, glancing over at the Destiny.

The Legend fell into formation on the Justice's other side. "The Destroy units are universally piloted by Extended," Rau explained, even now still wearing that tiny, amused smile. "They keep the pilots on a perpetual feed of psychoactive drugs to induce an artificial state of panic, impelling the pilot to shoot at anything and everything." He smiled eerily. "Which is why they call this unit the Destroy."

"If past experience is any indication, this thing will have units guarding its flanks," Shinn added, with no shortage of bitter glaring at Rau. "But where—"

Another wave of red beams sliced out of the heavens, and the _Minerva_'s Gundams broke formation to evade. Athrun looked up angrily towards the sky, where he found the flashing eyes of two Zamzazar mobile armors streaking into battle, beam cannons deployed.

"A mobile armor team!" Shinn snapped. "Where were _they_ hiding?"

"Only machines protected by a positron reflector can survive guarding the Destroy's flanks," Rau chuckled. "Allow me to eliminate one of those units." The Legend took off towards one of the Zamzazars.

Athrun glanced over at Viveka. "Then we'll get the other one," he said. "Shinn, Stella, the Destroy is all yours."

"Roger," Shinn answered, as the Destiny and Gaia raced off after the gargantuan Destroy.

"So," Viveka said, as the Savior and Justice arced up towards the remaining Zamzazar unit, "this is the first time I've tangoed with one of these, uh, whatever Shinn called it. How do you beat one of these things?"

"By proving your earlier boasts true," Athrun answered. "Cover me!"

The Infinite Justice took off with a flash, igniting its beam boomerang blade. The Zamzazar lined up for another energy cannon blast—the Justice somersaulted over the blasts, bring its beam blade to bear—

Athrun cursed as the Zamzazar deployed its crusher claws, flashing to life with a cherry-red glow and stopping his beam blade cold.

"Viveka! Fire!"

The Savior lunged up over the Justice's head, pouring plasma cannon fire into the Zamzazar. It backed away as the shots landed helplessly against the Zamzazar's positron reflector, spewing back return fire and forcing the Savior on the defensive.

"What? I can't get through!" Viveka exclaimed, as an errant beam shot pounded against her shield.

"You can't punch through the reflector with those weapons!" Athrun answered, charging through the Zamzazar's fire and deflecting shots with his beam shield. "You have to use beam sabers!"

The Savior somersaulted over the Zamzazar's volley of energy cannon blasts, firing again and finding its shots spoiled by the positron reflector. "Then how am I supposed to cover you?"

Athrun narrowed his eyes, stabbing forward with his blade, only to see the Zamzazar block the blow with one of its claws. "It's human nature to avoid attacks," he growled. "Keep shooting at the thing and distract it! The crew is only human!"

—

The Legend Gundam danced almost effortlessly through the Zamzazar's furious claw swipes. The Zamzazar brought its right claw down with a crash—Rau ducked aside with a smile. The Zamzazar swiped horizontally with its left claw—Rau gracefully backflipped over the claw and pummeled the Zamzazar with a beam cannon volley.

"The reflector is as effective as ever, I see," he chuckled, "but I would be remiss if I allowed you to cause any destruction!"

The Zamzazar responded with a full volley of energy cannon blasts, slamming them against the Legend's beam shield and throwing Rau back.

"Well played!" he cackled, as the Zamzazar followed up with a beam cannon barrage. "You may just yet provide some fun!"

The Legend somersaulted over the Zamzazar as it charged with a devastating twin claw swipe—Rau poured another beam volley into the Zamzazar's rear, but the positron reflector stopped his shots cold.

Rau grinned as the Zamzazar edged away, towards the Destroy—he fired another beam volley into the Zamzazar's path, and it went back on the defensive with a return barrage of its own.

"Far be it from me to work with my enemies," he laughed, "but I'm afraid I can't let you do that!"

—

"You remember how to fight a Destroy?" Shinn asked, as the Destiny and Gaia cruised between the low-lying buildings of Murmansk, towards the Destroy as it cut a swath of destruction across the city.

"It's just a really big bad guy," Stella insisted.

Shinn smiled bitterly. "That's one way of looking at it. Go for the arms first. Be careful, Stella."

Stella smiled back, and even in the midst of battle, she found a way to look sweet. "Stella's not scared," she said, "because Shinn is here."

The Destiny and Gaia burst into the Destroy's view, and Shinn charged with a scream, the seed bursting before his eyes and the Destiny's beam wings flashing to life. The Destroy answered with a volley of missiles—Shinn scowled as the familiar white bolt split the air. The Destiny waved its free left hand dramatically, and the missiles veered up and slammed instead into the Destroy.

"Stella, go!" Shinn shouted, as the Destroy attacked with a beam cannon volley. The Gaia slithered in between the shots, drawing a beam saber—but an instant later, the Destroy angled its wealth of beam cannons down towards the Gaia, pounding into Stella's shield and forcing her back.

"Shinn!" Stella cried—the Destiny charged with a scream, brandishing its anti-ship sword. Shinn's eyes widened—he threw the Destiny into a nosedive as the Destroy turned its firepower back on him.

"This fire is more controlled," he grunted, pulling up and making a beeline towards the Destroy's exposed legs. It showered the Destiny with beam fire, and Shinn took off, clawing for distance and leaving behind a cloud of afterimages. "This isn't usual for a Destroy...!"

"It's better!" Stella exclaimed, as the Gaia landed in the street with a crunch, pummeled by beam blasts to its shield.

The Destroy leveled off its Aufprall Dreizhen cannons and fired again, wiping out another cluster of buildings. Shinn winced as the lives disappeared from his consciousness—all these things could do was kill.

"I don't wanna do this," he growled, "but if you're not gonna leave me any choice..."

The Destiny took off again, slaloming through beam shots and brandishing its sword—only to find the Destroy adjusting its fire to hold off both the Destiny and the Gaia.

"It's shooting at both of us!" Stella cried. "Shinn!"

"They must be training these pilots better," Shinn grunted. "But that doesn't mean they can win!" He glanced sharply over at Stella. "Stella, do you remember Attack Pattern Theta?"

Stella nodded enthusiastically, even as the Gaia was thrown back by a beam cannon volley.

Shinn flashed a feral grin. "Then let's do it!"

—

Emily grimaced in pain as the Sword Strike E smashed its Schwert Gewehr through a nearby skyscraper and snuffed out dozens of lives. It came charging towards her, sword upraised—a moment later, Emily stabbed forward with her saber, stopping the Strike E's finishing blow. The Strike E leveled off its right-hand Panzer Eisen anchor and opened fire, only for Emily to cut through the cord and send it clattering uselessly to the ground.

"Why do you have to kill people like this...?" she murmured, ducking as the Strike E took another wild sword swipe that sawed another building in two. "What's the point of killing like this!"

Inside the Strike E, Kyali sneered at her foe as it stood before her, beam saber in hand, looking almost afraid. "_You're_ the one with the wings of light!" she snapped. "_You're_ supposed to be the scary one!" She raised her sword up for a deathblow. "_What's so scary about you now?_"

"_Stop!_" Emily screamed—the Strike E brought its sword down, but the Twilight surged forward, kicking the Strike E's sword arm aside and ramming into the Strike E with its shoulder, sending the white Gundam staggering back. Kyali opened fire with the CIWS to throw the Twilight off—

With a bone-jarring crash, the Twilight slashed its beam saber down through the Strike E's Schwert Gewehr, just below the hilt. Kyali blinked in disbelief as the beam blade vanished, and the solid blade dropped uselessly to the ground.

"My sword!" she exclaimed, eyes flashing—with a crash, the Strike E reared back and punched the Twilight across the face with its free left hand. "You bastard!" The Strike drew back, abandoning the useless handle and switching back to the beam rifle as Kyali keyed in a transmission. "_Bonaparte_, this is Kyali! Send me the Launcher Striker!"

"I got the sword..." Emily breathed, taking cover behind her beam shield as the Strike E showered her in beam rifle blasts. "But you'll still keep killing people like this!"

Her eyes widened again as that horrible, distorted feeling of pressure rose in her. There was nobody else it could be coming from—this time it had to be coming from the Strike E. The pilot—distortion—was it an Extended?

The sky shook as a Skygrasper rocketed overhead, ejecting the Strike E's olive-green Launcher Striker pack. The Strike E rose up into the air with a blast of exhaust, hurling its two beam boomerangs down towards the Twilight as it ejected the last Sword Striker parts. Emily ducked aside as the boomerangs tore down into the ground, but was too late to stop the Strike up ahead, and with a flash, the Launcher Strike E fired its Agni cannon down into the ground. Emily threw the Twilight back as a thunderous blast erupted from the point of impact.

"Now it's got a giant cannon...!" Emily exclaimed. "What _can't_ you do?"

The Launcher Strike E charged, showering the Twilight with fire from its anti-ship Vulcan gun. "We'll see how good you are against the Agni!" Kyali snapped. "_Now hold still and die!_"

—

"Sergeant!" the voice echoed through the Sword Calamity's cockpit. "Stop worrying about those Gundams and get after the _Minerva!_"

Inside the Sword Calamity, Gregory Hayden clenched his fists around the mobile suit's controls. "Captain, they're blocking the way," he protested. Up ahead, the Abyss Gundam charged, lance drawn back. "I'll go through you both!"

The Abyss brought its lance to bear—Hayden blocked it with his left-hand anti-ship sword and swung his right sword in a deathblow towards the Abyss's waist. It landed against the Abyss's shoulder shell with a jarring crash, leaving the two Gundams locked together. Hayden blinked in surprise as the Chaos slipped in behind him, beam saber raised—

The Sword Calamity threw itself back and backflipped over the Chaos. The Abyss jumped up over the Chaos, pounding the Sword Calamity with solid shell fire—Hayden fired both of his rocket anchors towards the Abyss, but the Chaos lunged up from the ground to cut the anchors' lines with his beam saber, and the Abyss smacked the disconnected anchors aside with its shoulder shells.

"Dammit!" Hayden growled. "I'm running out of weapons here!"

The Chaos charged towards him, saber raised—Hayden brought his left-hand sword to bear, but with a jarring smash, the Chaos kicked the sword from his hand. It brought its saber down, and only the Sword Calamity's right-hand sword stopped the Chaos's saber.

"Who _are_ these guys?" Hayden exclaimed. The Chaos surged forward, throwing the Sword Calamity back—Hayden fired the thrusters to regain the initiative, stabbing forward with his remaining sword. The Chaos somersaulted over his head, and Hayden's eyes went wide as he found himself in the Abyss's sights.

The Sword Calamity rattled as the Abyss stopped Hayden's charge cold with its lance, and Hayden desperately backflipped over the Chaos's head as it rushed in from behind, sweeping its saber towards the Sword Calamity's legs.

"They're double-teaming me," he growled. "Bastards, you're not gonna win like that!"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Poljarny Inlet Naval Installation**

"The Destroy unit is attacking Murmansk," Pegodin said grimly, as the _Minerva_ quaked under the artillery barrage of the Alliance fleet. "My ships are putting up a decent showing against the Alliance fleet; my mobile suits and armor are holding off the enemy so far. But we cannot allow the Destroy to continue rampaging through Murmansk."

"They must be trying to punish Murmansk for harboring Resistance members," Abbey said grimly. "Those bastards in the Phantom Pain are known for doing this." She glanced over at the captain's chair. "Captain, what are we going to do?"

Meyrin reached back painfully into the blood-soaked library of memory. This was not the first time the Phantom Pain had attacked a city with a Destroy Gundam, with the intent to punish civilians for not fearing the iron fist of Lord Djibril. And this was not the first time the _Minerva_ had been there to stop them. "Admiral," she said, "don't send any of your own troops. They'll just get slaughtered."

Pegodin was crestfallen. "Captain, something must be done—" he started.

"Leave the Destroy to Shinn," Meyrin finished, silencing Pegodin in mid-speech. "You have your own problems to worry about, and Shinn is skilled enough to bring that thing down. You said yourself that some people here worship him like a god—this is where he gives them reason to believe."

Pegodin eyed her carefully. "Understood," he said, and the screen went dark.

"There's got to be something more we can do," Abbey insisted. "The Alliance fleet is matching Pegodin's forces blow for blow, but nobody has the upper hand yet."

Meyrin peered across the base—the _Minerva_ had a perfect shot from its dry-dock out into the Alliance fleet, and that did not appear to have occurred to anyone.

"Chen," she said, glancing towards the weapons console, "are the weapons functional?"

Chen consulted his console for a moment. "The Tristans and Isolde, and most of the CIWS," he said. "The Tannhäuser is still out of commission."

"That's good enough," Meyrin said. "Target the Tristans and Isolde at the Alliance fleet, with as wide a spread as possible, and prepare to fire on my mark."

"We won't be able to dodge any return fire," Malik warned from the helm.

"Then charge up the weapons to maximum and keep them firing as rapidly as possible," Meyrin instructed. "They'll never see this coming."

—

Shinn glanced towards the buildings as the Destiny rocketed through the air, leaving behind only afterimages to catch the Destroy Gundam's fire. It was painful to see the Destroy wading through a city and smashing everything in its path, but this was the only environment in which Attack Pattern Theta could work. And until Stella was in position, the most Shinn could do was give the Destroy something to shoot at.

The Destroy fired off a barrage of missiles—Shinn's eyes flashed furiously at the incoming ordnance. "You don't learn, do you?" he snapped, as the Destiny's eyes lit up and the missiles went streaking around back into the Destroy's armor. A pall of smoke rose up around the Destroy.

"Shinn!" Stella's voice exclaimed—Shinn grinned in anticipation.

An instant later, the smoke parted violently as the Gaia Gundam leapt in between the barrels of the Destroy's Aufprall Dreizhen cannons, beam saber drawn. It whirled elegantly around, sweeping the saber through both barrels and blasting the cannons apart. The Destroy shuddered under the blow—just in time for Shinn to come charging in with a scream, driving his palm cannon into the Destroy's left-hand missile launcher. Stella lunged into the right-hand missile launcher, ripping it open with her beam saber, and a pair of thundering explosions rocked the Destroy as the two Gundams pulled back.

"It doesn't look like we got any of the circumferential cannons," Shinn grunted, "but at least it's a start."

The red eyes on the Destroy's surface flashed to life, and with a crash, the Destroy opened fire with its beam cannons, forcing the two smaller Gundams back on the defensive as the monstrous machine shifted to its towering mobile suit mode.

"Shinn! It changed...!" Stella exclaimed.

"Now it can use those beam sabers," Shinn grunted. "We're running out of time here!"

—

The Legend went spiraling effortlessly through the Zamzazar's furious barrage of beam blasts, ducking underneath a pair of energy cannon shots and returning fire with its beam rifle. The shots slammed helplessly against the Zamzazar's positron reflector—inside the cockpit, Rau frowned as he took off to dodge the return fire. Perhaps the reflector could not be worn down by overwhelming application of firepower.

"Well, the Alliance continues to impress," he chuckled, lining up for one last beam cannon volley that pounded against the Zamzazar. It plowed through the Legend's beam fire, igniting both claws and swiping towards the Gundam with its left claw; Rau backflipped over it. The Zamzazar brought down its right claw; Rau skirted aside, smiling malevolently at his oversized foe. The Zamzazar thrust itself forward, both claws splayed; Rau somersaulted over the charging mobile armor and pummeled it with another volley of beam shots. "What I really need," he muttered, "is a distraction. But I suppose this will have to do!"

The Zamzazar opened fire with its rear energy cannons, forcing the Legend back on the defensive. The mobile armor whirled around again, claws open once more, and charged. Rau grinned—the Legend's left leg sprung open, ejecting a beam javelin into the Legend's grip, and the gray Gundam ignited the blade with a flash.

"Melee range is not a good place for something like you!" Rau cackled. The Zamzazar brought its claw down—Rau parried the blow with his saber, laughing even as the Legend rattled. "Destructive as you may be, I can be still more!"

—

"_How the hell do you shoot this guy down?_" Viveka screamed, as the Savior Gundam in mobile armor mode spiraled through the Zamzazar's relentless beam cannon barrages. "It's not very fair if he can deflect _every fucking weapon I have!_"

As the Infinite Justice Gundam deflected a claw blow with its beam shield and went reeling backward, Athrun narrowed his eyes at the mobile armor. "Just keep it focused on you!" he shouted. "A reflector can't stand up to a beam saber!"

"Well it can stand up to everything else!" Viveka shot back. The Savior let loose a barrage of beam blasts of its own, but the Zamzazar shrugged them off behind the reflector and answered with another furious volley. "They're splitting their attention!"

"The Zamzazar has a crew of three," Athrun said, "so they must have two guys gunning at both of us!"

The Zamzazar charged towards the Justice, its right-hand claw raised high. Athrun threw the Justice back as the mobile armor brought its claw down, and fired back with a beam cannon volley that landed against the reflector. He roared back up towards the Zamzazar, beam blade ignited, and stabbed forward—an instant later, the Zamzazar swung back with its right claw, knocking the Justice aside.

"Dammit!" Athrun grunted, scrambling to regain control. The Zamzazar loomed above him, beam cannons leveled—

"Not on my watch!"

The Savior slammed into the Zamzazar in mobile suit mode with its shield, throwing the massive mobile armor off and sending its finishing beam blasts sailing wide. Before Viveka could follow up the attack, the Zamzazar forced her back with another beam cannon shot.

Athrun shook his head, glancing up at the Savior. To think she had thrown her own life into the fire to protect him—

"You have more mobility in mobile armor mode!" Athrun cried. "Switch modes and distract it so I can get in close!"

—

Another low-slung building vanished in a plume of fire as the Launcher Strike E stood in the street, spewing missiles from the combo weapons pod on its right shoulder. Taking cover behind her beam shield, Emily wracked her brain for a plan—she had seen Shinn use the Destiny to redirect missiles towards other targets, even the machines that had fired them. But could she do that?

Instead, she sent the Twilight lunging to the side as the Strike E fired its Agni cannon. A flash of instinct pricked her consciousness, and as the Twilight landed on its shoulder, she fired the beam rifle up at the Strike E's shoulder. The Strike E shuddered as the remains of the weapons pod went clattering away.

"Damn you!" Kyali screamed, leveling off the Agni. "You think that's gonna stop me?"

The Twilight leapt into the air as the Agni fired, and Emily desperately scanned the skies for the sun—only to find it obscured by the clouds. The Strike E fired again—Emily threw the Twilight back, and seized her chance, squeezing off a beam rifle shot as the Twilight tumbled back to Earth. The blast tore through the Strike E's left elbow joint, ripping the Agni cannon free and sending both clattering to the ground.

"My arm!" Kyali cried, staring in disbelief as the molten stump of the Strike E's left arm. "You bastard...!"

As the Twilight landed heavily on one knee, the Strike E drew a beam pistol and charged, its pilot screaming. Emily blinked in surprise and raised her solid shield, as the Strike E opened fire and pounded shots against the shield.

"Kyali!" Harris's voice shouted, filling the Strike E's cockpit. "What are you doing? Pull back!"

"I've still got the beam guns!" Kyali cried, leveling off her pistol. The Twilight surged forward, knocking the Strike E back.

"You can't fight the enemy with that! He can still fly and maneuver!"

"I can still fight!" Kyali screamed, raising the pistol again. "I can still—"

"You do that," Harris snarled, "and you'll disappear!"

The Strike E's pistol fell from its hand with a crash, as Kyali's eyes went wide in horror. Inside the Twilight, Emily winced as the miserable flash of fear overtook her, and she watched in disbelief as the Strike E whirled around and ran away.

"That fear..." she murmured. "The pilot?"

She glanced up above at the sound of an explosion, and yelped in surprise as something crashed down next to her. She peered at it for a moment—a giant claw? Up above, she found the Legend Gundam floating triumphantly, beam javelin raised, above a Zamzazar mobile armor, with smoke pouring from the stump where its left-hand claw was once attached.

Instinct screamed inside her—the Twilight activated its long-range cannon and fired, drilling a hole through the Zamzazar's wound and spearing it on a shimmering red beam blast. The broken mobile armor belched smoke and fire, collapsing towards the city and exploding in midair.

Rau's grinning, masked face appeared on the auxiliary screen. "Nicely done, Miss Oldendorf," he chuckled.

Emily glanced back at the fallen claw. "What _was_ that thing?"

"An Alliance mobile armor," Rau answered. "Equipped with a positron reflector that can deflect almost anything." He glanced towards something in the Legend's cockpit. "The Justice and Savior are still fighting the other unit. Shall we go lend a hand?"

Emily looked back in the direction the Strike had gone as she pushed the Twilight into the air to follow the Legend.

_Who...?_

—

"Sting, this guy is getting on my nerves!" Auel complained, as he brought down the Abyss's lance onto the Sword Calamity's remaining Schwert Gewehr. "When's he gonna get the message? Do we have to destroy the other sword too?"

"Once we do, he's pretty much screwed," Sting said. "Go!"

The Abyss kicked back from the Sword Calamity, sending it staggering away, and pummeled it with another shell volley. Hayden furiously hacked through the smoke, brandishing his sword and charging towards the Abyss.

"It'll take more than that!" Auel cackled.

The Abyss ducked down beneath the Sword Calamity's raging sword swipe, and with a screech of torn metal, sliced off the black mobile suit's arm at the elbow with the Abyss's beam lance. Hayden whirled around, desperately drawing an Armor Schneider—an instant later, a beam rifle shot from the Chaos blew his left arm away.

"I can't believe this!" Hayden screamed. The Abyss whirled around for a finishing blow—Hayden answered by firing a volley from his chest cannon into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust. Before the two Gundams could react, he had turned and vanished into the smoke.

Sting and Auel glanced over at each other. "At least he's retreating," Sting said. "Let's go take care of that Destroy."

"Those Alliance bastards really played low this time," Auel snarled, as the two Gundams took off towards the city.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

Chen glanced up urgently at the captain's chair as the lights on his console flashed.

"Captain, the weapons are fully charged and ready to fire. We're ready to synchronize."

"Abbey, the firing solution," Meyrin said, glancing over at Abbey's station. The blonde-haired girl glanced over her console for a moment.

"We'll start with an Isolde volley on the _Actium_," she said, "and then our targets fan out from there with the Tristans and Isolde. The solution is locked in."

"I hope Pegodin gets the message," Meyrin murmured. She peered up ahead, on the magnified viewfinder—the massive aircraft carrier _Actium_ laid at the center of the fleet, while the Earth Alliance's smaller ships and mobile suits slugged it out with the Resistance's dwindling fleet of aging warships. They were putting up a surprisingly tenacious fight, considering their age, but the Alliance forces—and that unstoppable Destroy—were just too overwhelming.

Meyrin narrowed her eyes at the _Actium_. Well, she could do something about _that_.

"All weapons, fire!"

—

**Earth Alliance aircraft carrier **_**Actium**_

Admiral Stone watched with glee as up ahead, under fire from two _Danilov_-class destroyers, a decommissioned Royal Navy frigate still flying the Union Jack snapped in two like a twig and vanished in a tower of fire. The enemy was falling back in all sectors. So much history was going down in pieces to the bottom of the inlet, but if that was the price the Resistance would exact, it was a price he was willing to pay.

"The Destroy unit has reported some damage, and is proceeding in mobile suit mode through Murmansk," another officer added.

"It's keeping that infernal Destiny unit tied up," the _Actium_'s captain noted. "Thank God for that, at least."

"Order all units to press forward," Stone ordered. "One last push and we'll—"

He never finished—the bridge of the _Actium_ shook as a blinding wall of smoke flashed up in front of the windows. Stone growled as he was nearly thrown from his chair, and the _Actium_ lurched back as though it had been struck by a fist.

"What the hell was that?" the captain roared.

"Admiral, enemy fire coming from the Poljarny dock!" someone cried. "It...it looks like the _Minerva!_"

"The _Minerva!_" Stone roared. "I thought they weren't operational! How the hell did this happen?"

"_Minerva_ is training its weapons on our fleet's main cannons, sir!" an officer exclaimed. "_Knoxville_ and _Corregidor_ were hit in the magazines and are sinking! _Johannesburg_ is dead in the water!"

"How can they fire this quickly...?" the captain murmured. "_Actium_, return fire! Arm the Gottfrieds!"

"Impossible, sir!" the weapons officer replied. "The _Minerva_'s opening salvo disabled Gottfried One and Two!"

"Resistance units advancing in all sectors!" another officer added. "It's a counterattack, admiral!"

"That damn ship..." Stone snarled. "They can't even _move_ and they can still get in my way!"

The auxiliary screen flashed to life, and Stone turned his furious eyes on Harris Meyers' grim visage.

"Admiral," the young colonel said, "all my deployed units have been damaged or destroyed. The Resistance has marshaled reinforcements. I am pulling out."

"Pulling out?" Stone sputtered. "What—but the _Minerva_—"

"My men were unable to destroy it," Harris said. "And the Resistance has sent enough mobile suits to ensure that I cannot fight back." He saluted and the screen went dark.  
Stone glared back at the port, where the _Minerva_ was spewing firepower into the Alliance fleet. "That damned _Minerva_..."

—

**Murmansk, Russia**

"The _Minerva_ is firing on the fleet?" Viveka exclaimed, as the Savior lurched under a beam cannon barrage. "Are they crazy?"

"They can't move! How will they avoid return fire?" Athrun snapped, pausing only to allow the Infinite Justice to parry with its beam shield a claw swipe from the Zamzazar. "Viveka, we have to take this thing out and go protect the _Minerva!_"

"Well, I'm _trying!_" Viveka shot back.

A wave of beam cannon blasts slammed into the Zamzazar, and it lurched aside under the blow, casting its massive pink eyes towards its attackers.

"Do you require assistance, Athrun?"

The Legend Gundam, with the Twilight on its flank, came streaking into the battlefield, beam cannons deployed. Athrun scowled at the gray Gundam and turned his attention back towards the Zamzazar.

Inside the Twilight, Emily looked over the Zamzazar nervously—a hulking machine whose claws could easily crush her own mobile suit, she guessed.

"Emily, switch to the beam saber," Rau advised. "That is the only weapon that can penetrate the reflector."

"If you can get _close_ enough," grumbled Viveka. "This thing is a flying fucking gun fetish!"

"No time for that, _move!_" Athrun roared.

The four Gundams darted apart as the Zamzazar opened fire with all four of its guns. The Savior and Legend returned fire with a punishing beam cannon volley that drove the Zamzazar back behind its reflector shield.

"Keep at it!" Viveka shouted. "It can't hold!"

The Legend and Savior fired again, cutting short the Zamzazar's return volley. The Twilight and Infinite Justice swept on side by side, beam blades ignited.

"I'll take out his claws," Athrun said, "you hit the main body!"

Emily nodded uneasily, steeling herself for the feeling of death. The two Gundams charged—instinct jerked Emily's hands to the side, and the Twilight ducked aside as the Zamzazar fired again. Athrun plowed through the blasts with his beam shield, screaming—

The Zamzazar shuddered as Athrun drove his beam blade through the mobile armor's entire left side, ripping both of its left-hand claws free. It staggered back, a cloud of smoke streaming from the ruined armor. Emily charged, seeing her chance—

As the Zamzazar desperately raised its right-hand claw, Emily drove the Twilight's beam saber into the orange hatch on its front surface. She squeezed her eyes shut as the lives inside disappeared—that was the way it had to be. The Twilight backed away as arms of fire tore the mobile armor apart.

"Well, that was thrilling," Viveka groused, watching the Zamzazar's wreckage collapse towards Murmansk.

"We're not done yet!" Athrun cut her off. "There's still that Destroy to take care of!"

—

"You just can't do anything without us, can you?" Sting Oakley's voice chuckled, as a wave of beam blasts streaked out of the heavens and smashed into the Destroy's positron shield. It answered the blasts with a furious beam cannon barrage of its own, and the Chaos and Abyss Gundams came roaring into battle, guns blazing.

"We scored a few hits," Shinn grunted, dancing through a hurricane of beams and firing back. "But we need more guns here to distract it!"

More shots lanced out of the sky, striking the Destroy from the side. It blindly sent a beam cannon volley skyward, but was only answered by another volley as the Infinite Justice, Savior, Legend, and Twilight stormed into the fray.

"I see Lord Djibril is still relying on these things," Rau cackled, pummeling the Destroy with a volley of beams. The Infinite Justice and Savior fired as well, pounding against the positron shield as it spewed beams back.

"Distract the thing so someone can close!" Shinn yelled. "Emily, stay back—this thing isn't an ordinary foe!"

Emily frowned as she pulled back behind her beam shield, the Twilight's cockpit lurching. "I'm not gonna be useless," she protested.

The Gundams opened fire with a concerted volley, smashing against the positron shield and forcing the Destroy to step back and steady itself. It answered with a blazing volley from its chest cannons—the Abyss Gundam somersaulted up and brought its lance down onto the Destroy's right-hand beam saber. The Destroy raised its left-hand for a killing volley, but an instant later, the Gaia stabbed through the arm just below the wrist with a beam saber, wiping it out in a blaze. The Destroy lurched as its left arm vanished in a plume of fire, and shot back with a Zorn cannon blast—an instant later, the Destiny was there to deflect it with its beam shield and return fire with its long-range cannon, stopping cold the Destroy's next beam cannon salvo. It flung the Abyss away with its right arm and raised the cannons to fire again—a whirling beam boomerang ripped the arm in two, and arced around back to the hands of the Infinite Justice.

"It's running out of weapons!" Viveka cried—the Savior transformed in a flash to its mobile suit mode, drawing a beam saber and slashing the Destroy's chest cannons out, before taking off again. The Legend and Chaos opened fire from afar, showering the Destroy with beam shots and forcing it to scatter the return fire from all its beam cannons in a desperate attempt to hit anything.

On the street, standing before the towering, struggling Destroy, Emily looked up at the tiny cockpit hatch and saw the pulsing life within. It was pure fear, pure hate, nothing even human anymore. The words "kill or be killed" emblazoned themselves across her mind's eye.

The seed fell before her—with a flash, the Twilight drew its anti-ship sword, beam wings blazing to life, and charged. The Destroy turned its beam cannons towards the attacker, but too late—the Twilight rammed its anti-ship sword through the Destroy's armor, into its cockpit. Emily clenched her teeth as the life inside the Destroy went silent.

"Move, Emily!" Athrun's voice shouted. Emily yanked her sword out of the Destroy's abdomen, pulling back—the _Minerva_'s Gundams poured firepower into the wound, and without the positron reflector, the Destroy was helplessly torn apart by a blaze of beam blasts, before it finally fell to its knees and died a thunderous death in the center of a fireball.

—

**Earth Alliance aircraft carrier **_**Actium**_

"The _Simon Bolivar_ is being evacuated!" the comm officer exclaimed, looking over with wide eyes at a furious Admiral Stone. "They report that the captain was killed and the XO is in command!"

"Rear Admiral Mannheim reports that all but his flagship has been sunk!" another officer cried. He paused in disbelief as he looked down at his console. "Admiral! We've lost contact with the _Westphalia!_"

The _Actium_'s captain glanced over grimly at Stone. "Admiral," he began, "we should—"

"Contact lost with Destroy unit Lambda One!" someone exclaimed. "Admiral, look!"

Stone turned his enraged eyes towards the city of Murmansk, where the sinister silhouette of the Destroy fell to its knees and vanished in a massive column of fire.

"Even the Destroy..." he snarled. "Can no one beat the _Minerva!_" He furiously got to his feet. "All units, full retreat! Full retreat!"

—

"...and predictably, without their big scary superweapon, the enemy fleet turns tail and runs," Rau said sardonically as the _Minerva_'s Gundams stood among the Destroy's smoldering wreckage. "What remains of the Alliance fleet is in full retreat."

The Destiny glanced over at the Twilight, where it stood before the desiccated Destroy's charred, silent head. Shinn studied Emily's face as he opened a line to the silent black Gundam.

"Emily," he said; she blinked in surprise, finally noticing him. "Not too many people can say they've taken down a Destroy unit. So congratulations."

Emily looked numbly down at the wreckage. "What kind of people would do this...?" she asked, looking up in disbelief at the swath of carnage the Destroy had carved through Murmansk before it had finally met its end.

The Infinite Justice slowly approached; Athrun grimly surveyed the ruins. "The kind of people who would do this," he said, "are the kind of people who will destroy the world."

Emily looked down at the Destroy's ruined head—and its empty eyes stared back.

—

To be continued...


	13. Phase 13: In the Devil's Arms

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 13 - In the Devil's Arms

—

**March 3rd, CE 77 - Poljarny Inlet Naval Installation, Russia**

It was almost overwhelming to even Emily's nascent senses as the Twilight Gundam cruised back towards the _Minerva_. Death was everywhere—the inlet was clogged with half-sunken ships, both of the Resistance fleet and the Alliance. The grounds were littered with burnt-out mobile suits and smashed armored vehicles. And there was a blackened swath of destruction from the beach into Murmansk—the legacy of the fallen Destroy Gundam.

And to think a few of those smashed buildings and groups of bodies were the work of the Strike E.

Emily shook her head. The pressure had felt familiar, but she could not place it. She wondered if it was worth it to try.

"Twilight, this is _Minerva_," Roxy's voice interrupted. "Approach the starboard bay, and bring it in. We're calling it a day."

Emily threw a switch, easing the Twilight down as the _Minerva_'s starboard catapult hatch yawned open. "Roger."

She glanced back at the Destiny as it fell into formation behind her, and wondered how Shinn was feeling.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Murmansk Oblast, Russia**

The maintenance pod room was quiet for all but the soft humming of the machinery and tapping of keys. Harris Meyers crossed his arms and watched it all impassively—better that it all be quiet, of course. The last thing he wanted was to have to put up with an awakened and belligerent Kyali.

"Colonel," one of the technicians said, gesturing to the screen, "there's something odd with the brainwaves."

Harris peered at them, expecting the technicians to interpret it—because he sure as hell couldn't. "How so?"

"The fluctuations are off," the technician continued. "Indicative of increased emotional intensity, I'd say. Based on this, I would say that she took this last fight unusually seriously."

Harris peered across the room at Kyali, where she lay sprawled and sleeping inside the Plexiglas cocoon. He had been forced to use her block word to get her to return to the _Bonaparte_, after exhausting almost all of her weapons against that black-colored Destiny unit. It was strange for her to be that tactically unaware of herself.

"Also, colonel," the technician went on, "I would like to take this opportunity to caution you against repeated use of Kyali's block word. It's like an antibiotic—"

"Then perhaps Althea should have done a better job of disciplining her," Harris interrupted, glancing testily at the technician. "If she would obey my commands better, I wouldn't need to use the block word."

The technician paused for words. "Kyali is a Class II, sir," he said. "By their nature, they're not as stable as Class I Extended. And if she was a Class III, she'd hardly be able to brush her teeth without supervision." He paused again. "Besides, every Extended reacts differently to the conditioning. Some become very docile, while others remain more rebellious. It's up to the caretaker to figure out how best to control them."

"That's what you're here for," Harris shot back. "Keep her under control and get her rejuvenated as quickly as possible."

"Yes sir."

Harris swept out of the room in annoyance, shutting the door behind him. He glanced down the hallway, finding a man in the ubiquitous black uniform of the Phantom Pain approaching.

Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Tupolev was the captain of the _Bonaparte_, and the square-jawed man greeted Harris with a duly-returned salute. "The _Minerva_ will probably be taking off soon, sir," he said. "We guess within the next thirty-six hours. The _Charlemagne_'s projected course data had them going across Siberia towards the Sea of Okhotsk."

"We'll chase them all over Eurasia if we have to," Harris answered, heading towards the bridge with Tupolev at his side. "We have the advantage of knowing the territory better than they do."

"Aye, sir."

"I want to capture one of the _Minerva_'s pilots," Harris continued. "We have the Gamma-Zero maneuver for that. We'll be able to find out where they're going, and see what else we can pull from them. The _Minerva_ is the most famous unit of the Resistance—I'm sure they're in frequent contact with the Resistance's leadership."

"A captive _Minerva_ pilot will make a fine gift for your father, as well," Tupolev added.

Harris smiled and shook his head. "I _am_ my father's son," he said, "but I am also Colonel Harris Meyers. And as long as I'm Colonel Meyers, my father will have to be simply Senator Meyers." He glanced at Tupolev. "My duty comes first. I'm sure you understand."

"Perfectly," Tupolev said, nodding.

"Have the mechanics hurry with the repairs to our mobile suits," Harris instructed. "I want to be ready as soon as the _Minerva_ leaves Poljarny. In the meantime, I'm going to call ahead to St. Petersburg Regional Base. There's a particular MP unit based there that I'm sure will pull plenty of information from our captive-to-be."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Poljarny Inlet Naval Installation, Russia**

Athrun Zala emerged from the cockpit of the Infinite Justice to find Viveka waiting for him, with her overcoat slung over her shoulder. He blinked in surprise, wondering how long she had been there.

"Do you tinker with this thing after every sortie?" she asked with a grin. Athrun shrugged.

"This Gundam is what I am," he said. "It has to be as perfect as I can get it."

Viveka sighed and let it go. "Well, thanks for sticking with me out there," she said. "It was a hell of a battle."

Athrun struggled to push down the bitter memories of Destroy Gundams and slain friends of the past. They had died because he could not protect them—he had not been fast enough, accurate enough, strong enough. And the cost was too high.

"It's what teammates do," he answered.

"Yeah, but it felt sort of like you were going out of your way to protect me," she said. Athrun blinked in surprise. Had he? "And I kinda felt invincible out there with you." She extended her natural hand. "So thanks."

Athrun hesitantly shook her hand. "I just don't want to lose anymore comrades," he said.

Viveka looked up at him interestedly. "Anymore?" she asked.

Athrun's eyes darkened as he let go of her hand. "It was a long time ago," he mumbled, brushing by her. "And it can't be changed."

Athrun headed off down the gantry, with Viveka glancing after him in confusion.

—

Strange, distorted pressure. That was the phrase that Emily's mind had settled on as she leaned against the gantry railing, staring up at the dark eyes of her Twilight Gundam. That was what she had felt coming from the Strike E. Shinn had said that that was how the Extended felt—but could it be possible that the Strike E's pilot was the Extended from Murmansk? Were the laws of chance that cruel? She glanced aside as Shinn approached.

"You're still here?" he asked, coming to a stop next to her. "What's wrong?"

Emily turned her eyes back towards the Twilight. "I felt pressure from the Strike E during the battle," she said. "It was...different."

Shinn cast a sidelong glance at her for a moment. "It's not worth trying to figure it out," he said; Emily glanced at him hurtfully. "It's better if you don't." He shook his head, and once again Emily guessed that he was speaking from experience. "It's hard to fight an enemy you know."

"I could feel the pilot's fear..." Emily murmured. "How am I supposed to fight when I can feel my enemy's fear of death?"

"That's the tricky part, isn't it?" Shinn agreed. "In the end it just comes down to how strong you are."

Emily glanced at him. "What if you're not strong enough?"

"I don't think that's something you need to worry about," Shinn said. He shook his head, his smile fading. "But I'm sorry for dragging you into this war. I didn't expect things to turn out like this."

"It's alright," Emily replied. "You've given me a home, and the power to protect it."

Shinn smiled sadly. "That sounds familiar."

—

**Murmansk, Russia**

"Goddamn," Auel sighed, "this is awful."

He glanced from the passenger seat of Sting's beat-up jeep as they cruised down the streets of Murmansk. Everywhere, it seemed, there was destruction. There was no hope of driving on the streets that the Destroy had been through—what streets still existed were choked with emergency vehicles, trying to rescue survivors and recover bodies. The latter was a task neither Extended wanted to see, so they had decided to stay in the parts that the Destroy had not decimated. But even those areas had seen catastrophic damage. It would take Murmansk a long time to rebuild.

"A whole lot of people died here for no reason," Sting said grimly. "I guess it's a good thing that we were able to stop it before it killed anymore, but still..." He shook his head. "Damn the Phantom Pain."

Auel glanced towards one of the ruined buildings, where an ambulance was being loaded with bodies; whether they were living or dead, he could not tell. "Those Destroys," he mumbled. "Were they...were they made for us?"

Sting glanced over at him, pulling over to the side of the road as another ambulance went barreling past, siren screaming. "Neo wanted Stella to pilot the first one," he said. "Do you mean you and me specifically, or the Extended in general?"

Auel was silent a moment, watching a man and woman sobbing over the bloody body of a child. "Either or," he said. "Those Destroys...were we supposed to pilot them?"

"Probably," Sting said, and pulled back onto the road. "Like I said, Neo was going to have Stella pilot the first unit. Before she, y'know, left."

"We were supposed to do things like this," Auel murmured. "We were supposed to cause so much pain..."

"That's all the Alliance made us for," Sting said. "But the thing that you need to remember is that we're free."

"We are," Auel said, "but what about the other Extended?"

"We have our freedom," Sting answered, "and we're using it so that someday, they'll be free too." He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "And we also have power. So until the other Extended are as free as we are, we can use our power to stop things like this from happening." He glanced over at Auel. "I think that's what Lee would have wanted."

Auel sighed, as the car passed another ambulance. "I guess."

—

**March 4th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Poljarny Inlet Naval Installation, Russia**

"Let me say again," Pegodin's voice said on the _Minerva_'s main screen, as the bridge crew sat back impatiently, "that we at Poljarny are eternally grateful for your assistance. The mayor of Murmansk sends me with his personal thanks to your pilots, as well, for stopping that beastly Destroy Gundam."

In the captain's chair, Meyrin shrugged awkwardly. "Wherever there's a Destroy unit, you'll find Shinn Asuka turning it into junk," she said. "It's what we do."

"I suppose," Pegodin agreed, "but you will have certainly only added to your illustrious reputation." He offered a crisp salute; Meyrin and Abbey returned it. "Nevertheless, we have been honored to host you and fight alongside you. Farewell, and God go with you to Carpentaria."

"_Minerva_, ready to disengage from dock," the operator said. The _Minerva_ shuddered as it slid forward, into the freezing water of Poljarny. "All units are clear. _Minerva_, you are free to navigate."

At the helm, Malik glanced over his shoulder at Meyrin. "Return to course, captain?"

"It'll take some adjusting," Meyrin said, "but we can handle it. Turn east and proceed. We've had enough delays."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Murmansk Oblast, Russia**

"So they've launched," Harris said, standing at the hatch that led out to the _Bonaparte_'s helipad atop its bridge tower. He glanced towards Tupolev, standing at his side, and looked back at the officer who had delivered the news. "Inform the helm to close us into combat range, and have the mobile suit pilots prepare to sortie."

"Yes sir," the lieutenant answered, scurrying towards the bridge. Tupolev opened the hatch, and the two Phantom Pain officers stepped through a blast of cold air and snow onto the helipad. A field green Black Stallion utility helicopter was slowly setting down on the center of the pad, kicking up a wall of snow and dust. The helicopter rattled as it finally landed, and the side hatch swung open.

Harris found himself face to face with a thin, haunting man in a green Earth Alliance Army uniform, with a red beret on his menacing head. The man saluted.

"Major Shawn Bernard, reporting as ordered, sir," he said. Harris returned the salute.

"I see you've brought your men as well," he added.

"My best, sir," Bernard said. "Rest assured, colonel, that any pilot you bring us will crack under my hand."

"I don't doubt it," Harris said, seizing the major's hand in a firm handshake. "We're approaching the _Minerva_ now. Get your unit inside and ready, and we'll have a pilot for you. We have a maneuver specifically tailored to capturing a mobile suit and pilot intact—so the ball will soon be in your court."

"Colonel, the _Minerva_ is in range," Tupolev said. Harris smiled.

"Then it's showtime."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Murmansk Oblast, Russia**

"Hey, we made CNN again," Roxy chuckled as she kicked back on the bridge, watching the news on a side monitor on her comm console. "And they have that one anchor reporting."

"The gay one?" Burt droned.

"Yeah, but he's so in the closet," Roxy answered, pointing at the screen. "Nice designer executive shirt there, dude."

"We're reporting live tonight from the city of Murmansk in Russia, the Eurasian Federation," the anchor in question began. "Yesterday, it was the scene of a vicious battle between the forces of the Earth Alliance and the Resistance, and we've only just now been allowed access to the city by Murmansk authorities. As you can see, the damage to the city is extensive. Alliance officials report that the Resistance attacked the city to divert Alliance forces, and the Phantom Pain was forced to deploy a Destroy Gundam unit to the city. However, as you can see, it was destroyed in battle, reportedly by the Resistance battleship _Minerva_ and its contingent of mobile suits, known famously as Gundams..."

"Yeah, not like the Destroy had anything to do with that, jackass," Roxy snorted. "Your network's sources of funding are showing."

"The Earth Alliance is a totalitarian state," Burt said quietly. "You can't really sustain a totalitarian state if you can't control the media."

"Well, yeah, but this is two and two," Roxy protested. "Giant fucking mobile suit that has more beam cannons than Lacus Clyne had fan websites goes into a city, and _we're_ the ones who leveled half of Murmansk? Surely their viewers aren't _that_ brain-dead."

"You overestimate the practical reasoning powers of humankind," Burt chuckled.

Roxy heaved a sigh and tapped the screen off with the tip of her boot. "Well, as long as they leave us alone, those media cocksuckers can do all the spinning they want."

She glanced over her shoulder as something from Burt's console began to beep, and he sat up. "Spoke too soon," he said. "I've got a land-ship approaching from the south. Looks like it might be the one that attacked us at Poljarny."

"Aw, shit, what do they want?" Roxy snarled, seizing the intercom. "Bridge to Captain Hawke and Vice Captain Windsor. We've got an enemy land-ship to the south. Presence on the bridge requested."

—

The Twilight came online with a hum as Emily strapped herself into the cockpit seat. Another day, another battle—but this one was once again against the Phantom Pain. It felt like the first time she was going up against the Phantom Pain proper, with her new Gundam and whatever skills or luck had managed to keep her alive this far. She idly wondered how she would fare.

"Emily," Shinn's voice cut into her thoughts. She looked up at the auxiliary screen. "The Phantom Pain's pilots aren't like the regulars. Stick close to me."

Emily nodded, shutting the screen off and guiding the Twilight into the portside catapult. Roxy's face was next to appear on the screen.

"There's a storm coming in, so get this done quick or your visibility will be shit," she warned. "Launch vector is clear. Twilight, you're free to launch."

Emily braced herself—how many more times would she be surprised? "Emily von Oldendorf, Twilight, taking off!"

The Twilight rocketed forward, and Emily ground her teeth as the G-forces pressed her back into her seat. At last, the black Gundam lifted into the air, and she eased it into formation next to the Destiny and Gaia.

"Roxy, give us an enemy count," Athrun's voice said next, as the Infinite Justice roared up into the air.

"Looks like you've got a full battalion, plus five," she answered. "Nothing you guys can't handle, though, right?"

"We'll see," Athrun said grimly. "Visual contact confirmed!"

"Emily, you cover my flank," Shinn instructed, as the Destiny rocketed forward.

Emily pushed down the familiar feeling of dread. She had done this before—she could do it again. The Twilight took off after the Destiny, arming its beam rifle. Up ahead, a squad of Jet Dark Windams broke ranks, opening fire with missiles and beams. The Destiny waved its hand contemptuously, sending the missiles spiraling back towards the Windams—the Phantom Pain machines desperately cut down their own munitions with a CIWS barrage.

"Here goes nothing," Emily grunted—the Twilight deployed its long-range cannon and opened fire with a withering beam barrage to force the Windams back behind their shields. One of them ducked beneath her shots and fired back; Emily yanked the Twilight back into a dizzying backwards dive, as the _Minerva_'s Gundams came up against their attackers.

"Confirming battalion strength," Rau's voice cut in, as the Legend showered a squad of Windams with beams. He glanced towards the Chaos and Abyss, as the black Sword Calamity came streaking in on a sub-wing unit, swords drawn. "As I thought, it's the unit from Poljarny."

_Then that white Gundam will be here,_ Emily thought nervously. _And that pressure—_

Her thoughts screeched to a halt as a wave of beams slammed down onto her beam shield. She drew back with a beam rifle barrage, but her eyes flashed wide in fear as, across the battlefield, the Aile Strike E and Rosso Aegis came roaring towards her, flanked by a squad of Windams.

"They're both back!" Shinn growled. "Emily—!"

"They're coming after me!" she exclaimed. "What should I do?"

"Fight them, you idiot!" Auel's voice added angrily, as the Abyss pummeled the Sword Calamity with cannon fire. "What else are you doing out here?"

Emily forced down the fear again and turned her eyes towards the charging mobile suits.

—

"We've spent countless hours refining the Gamma-Zero maneuver in simulation," Harris told Kyali grimly as the Rosso Aegis and Aile Strike E sailed into battle. "Now is where you show me that you have mastered it."

Kyali nodded soberly. "Yes sir."

"That black version of the Destiny that you fought at Poljarny appears to be the weakest link in the _Minerva_'s mobile suit complement," Harris continued. "We will focus our operation on that one. Commence attack!"

The two Gundams rocketed ahead, leveling off their beam rifles and opening fire. The Windams followed up the attack with a wave of missiles, forcing the Twilight back behind its beam shield. The Strike E lunged forward, switching to its beam saber and rushing in close. The maneuver called for one unit to distract the target while the Rosso Aegis moved around the back—and of course, she _did_ have a battle to finish.

The Strike E brought its saber down with a crash onto the Twilight's beam shield, forcing the black Gundam back with sheer momentum. The Strike E surged forward with a blast from its Aile Striker pack—the Twilight went reeling, as its pilot struggled to maintain balance.

"Kyali, use the beam rifle!" Harris snapped. "If you're too close, this maneuver won't work!"

Inside the Twilight, Emily searched the skies frantically for her enemies, but a wall of firepower from the Strike E and its attendant Windams forced her back again behind her beam shield. "They're all focusing on me!" she wailed. "What do I do?"

The beams came streaking in again—Emily jerked the Twilight to the side, letting them sear by, only to watch the Windams adjust their fire to chase after her. The Strike E came charging in close again, beam rifle blazing.

A feeling of danger went shooting up her spine—she snapped her attention to the right, and screamed in terror, instinctually pulling the controls back and yanking the Twilight out of the way as the Rosso Aegis snapped at her in its mobile armor mode, threatening to close its claws around her.

"What is he trying to do?" she cried.

Rau's masked face appeared on the auxiliary screen, his ubiquitous smile gone. "They are trying to capture you," he said. "Do not allow the Aegis to get close."

"Capture her?" Viveka echoed. "How do you know that?"

"They are using a variation on a tactic that Athrun developed while he was a ZAFT soldier," Rau explained, pausing as something on his end shook. "He used the Aegis's claws to immobilize an enemy, for capture or destruction."

"Why do they want to capture me?" Emily wailed, taking cover behind her beam shield as the Rosso Aegis wheeled around and the Strike E showered her with beam rifle shots.

"Emily, focus your fire on the Aegis!" Athrun shouted. "The maneuver can't work if the Aegis is under attack!"

Emily scanned the skies for the red machine, but an instant later the Twilight shuddered as the Strike E rammed it with its shield.

"They're blocking me...!" she gasped. "Are they serious?"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"Why are they trying to capture her...?" Abbey grumbled, as the _Minerva_ shook from a missile's near-miss. "They've never tried this before!"

"The Phantom Pain is famous for its lack of regard for prisoners' rights," Meyrin said, struggling to force down the doubt, "so we can't let them succeed. Burt, find the enemy ship and we'll attack it! We've got to mount a distraction!"

"Distance to enemy land-ship is 975 and closing," Burt reported. "The enemy has a mobile suit force between us and the ship, in addition to the troops currently on the field."

"They're protecting the ship and letting their MS units do the fighting," Abbey noted. "Captain—"

"We'll just have to break through," Meyrin cut her off. Talia would not condemn a member of her crew to the chains of the Phantom Pain. "Chen, prepare all weapons. Malik, move us forward."

—

"Emily, keep away from that thing!" Shinn's voice shouted, as the Twilight desperately dodged a wave of beams. The Twilight rattled as it took another volley of shots to its beam shield, with the Windams hovering hawkishly over her and the Strike E charging in, beam saber drawn.

"They're all coming after me!" she wailed. "I can't—"

"Emily! Behind you!" Rau's voice roared.

An instant later, the Twilight shook and Emily screamed as the Rosso Aegis clamped down on the black Gundam from behind, locking its arms around the Twilight and pointing its beam sabers towards the Twilight's cockpit. It took off with a flash, the Windams and Strike moving in behind it.

"_Emily!_" Shinn screamed—the Destiny took off with a flash, beam wings flaring to life, but a moment later was buffeted by the combined firepower of the retreating Windams as they clustered around their commander. "Dammit, I can't get through!" The Destiny furiously batted the beams aside with its beam shield, only to be nearly struck by another wave. "I won't let this happen again...!"

"You're not taking my sister away from me again!" Viveka shouted. The Savior came roaring out of the sky in mobile suit mode, showering the retreating Windams with beam fire. They answered with a volley of their own that sent the Savior reeling back.

"Viveka!" Athrun cried; the Infinite Justice dropped in to protect the staggering Savior with its beam shield. "Dammit, how could this be happening?"

"I can't get a clear shot!" Sting grunted, struggling to line up for a beam rifle shot to free the Twilight. "Are you serious?"

"I won't let this happen!" Shinn roared—the Destiny blasted forward, beam wings shining. The Windams deployed their combat flares, and the sky turned white.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_

The Rosso Aegis slammed down onto the hangar floor with a crash, shaking the entire ship and forcing the captive Twilight to its knees in front of an empty boarding gantry. Black-uniformed, flak-jacketed soldiers of the Phantom Pain, wielding submachineguns, stormed down the thin metal walkway, clustering around the Twilight's cockpit hatch.

"It's locked from the inside!" the sergeant in charge barked. "Colonel, we'll need an external override!"

"On its way!" Harris answered over the loudspeaker, as the Aile Strike E landed nearby. A moment later, the hatch swung open, and the sergeant stormed into the cockpit.

"Colonel, is this a joke?" the sergeant asked. "The pilot is just a kid!"

"What?" Harris cried, opening the Aegis's cockpit hatch and climbing out. "Are you serious!"

The sergeant yanked something out of the Twilight's cockpit, and Harris's eyes widened in disbelief as he locked gazes with Emily von Oldendorf.

"That girl from Murmansk!" he exclaimed. "You've got to be kidding me! _She's_ this thing's pilot!"

Emily went white with horror as she realized who the officer atop the Rosso Aegis was. The sergeant glanced between Emily and Harris.

"You know her, sir?"

"Captain Bayan said that it might be a kid piloting this thing," Harris said, "but to think that this is the pilot..." He shook his head. "Take her to Major Bernard! She's still a Resistance fighter."

The sergeant and his men yanked Emily down the gantry, frustration mounting as the fear paralyzed her. Her eyes frantically darted around the hangar, falling on the silent Aile Strike E.

In front of the cockpit hatch, eyes wide, Kyali watched with disbelief as the soldiers dragged Emily past.

"E-Emily...y-you're the pilot...?" she whispered brokenly. "You're the Resistance pilot...?"

Emily stared back in horror as the guards dragged her away.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"_Shit!_"

His fist came down hard against the gantry railing, and Shinn Asuka clutched his head in anguish in front of the Destiny Gundam. Athrun, Rau, and a handful of the mechanics watched silently as their ace pilot raged in front of his loyal machine.

"I _promised_ her I wouldn't let this happen!" he screamed. "I promised her I would protect her! _DAMMIT!_"

Shinn stormed down the gantry with a furious scream.

Athrun glanced over at Rau as he stared pensively after the retreating Newtype ace. The ubiquitous smile was gone, but he was entirely unreadable.

"Why did you warn her?" Athrun asked bitterly.

Rau glanced at him. "We are Newtypes, Athrun," he said. "It will do us no good to be exploited by Djibril."

Athrun glared suspiciously at him, but they both turned at the sound of another furious scream. Down the gantry, Vino backed away as Viveka came storming out of the Savior's cockpit, cursing.

"I certainly would not expect Captain Hawke to abandon her," Rau said, "but we will need to be in a better position when we try to recover her."

"Why do you care about her?" Athrun asked, glaring back at Rau. "You tried to kill the entire human race. What's so special about her?"

"Is this the time to ask that?" Rau countered. "Right now I am more concerned with recovering our ally than keeping you from unraveling an imagined evil scheme."

Rau brushed past Athrun, heading down the gantry. Athrun glared after him, and headed after Viveka.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_

Emily was past all thought now, past all trying to rationalize her situation and find a way out. All she could think about were the horrible rumors of what the Phantom Pain did with its Resistance prisoners. The fear that had gripped her in the cockpit of that stolen Windam on the way to Ireland came rushing back, as the black-uniformed soldiers of the Phantom Pain dragged her down the halls of the _Bonaparte_.

Compounded on that horror was the brief and painful image of the two people who had brought her here. The image of that Phantom Pain officer from Murmansk seared itself back into her brain—it was him, that officer, that had captured her and brought her here.

And Kyali had helped him.

A million feelings ran through her mind, as she was yanked around a corner. What would happen to her? What did they want with her? Shinn's baneful warning that the Alliance would turn her into an Extended came roaring back—would _that_ be her fate?

A door in front of her slid open with a hiss, and Emily found herself shoved into a dark room. A light in the ceiling came on with a crash, shining down on a single chair, surrounded by the green-uniformed figures of Earth Alliance soldiers.

"So you're the pilot that Colonel Meyers promised me," a sardonic voice laughed. "I would not have expected such a young child, but such is war." Emily felt her heart stop, looking around in terror as the figures began to solidify into the baneful shapes of armed men.

One of them stepped in front of her, grinning down. Emily stared up with trembling eyes at his thin and ghostly face.

"I'm pleased to meet you, miss," he said with a chuckle. "We have much to discuss."

The door slammed shut.

—

To be continued...


	14. Phase 14: Disappearing

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 14 - Disappearing

—

**March 4th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Murmansk Oblast, Russia**

The door to Harris Meyers' office slid open, and Kyali Sekar stormed in with all the subtlety of a tornado. She marched up to Harris's desk, and even the young colonel felt the urge to remove the safety from his sidearm as he stared into her furious eyes.

"Why did you take Emily prisoner?" Kyali demanded, slamming her hands down onto the desk.

Harris glanced up at her, cocking an eyebrow. "Emily is an interesting specimen," he started. "The Phantom Pain database says that she was one of Lord Djibril's—"

"I don't care!" Kyali shouted. "Why did you capture her?"

"I don't see what business it is of yours to know," Harris answered, sitting back. "She is evidently the pilot of the Gundam that bested you in Murmansk."

"She was nice to me!" Kyali snapped. "_Nobody_'s nice to me, but she was! And now she's gonna get tortured! And I wanna know why!"

Harris glanced over Kyali's shoulder, as the guards finally arrived, looking perplexed at the furious Extended before them.

"If it's any consolation, I was as surprised as you are," Harris said tiredly. "But military necessity is military necessity—"

"_She was nice to me!_" Kyali screamed.

The soldiers advanced forward, glancing at Harris. He nodded.

"These matters are none of your concern, Kyali," he said coolly, even as she fumed in front of him. "And I'm very busy, so if you could just _disappear_ for a while..."

The soldiers seized Kyali by the arms and dragged her away before she could scream. Harris tapped a button on his intercom.

"Tupolev here," the voice on the other end answered. "What is it, sir?"

"Send a line out to Moscow base," Harris said. "We'll probably need to take refuge there. I doubt the _Minerva_ will let us get away with one of their pilots and one of their Gundams." He narrowed his eyes as Kyali's screams drifted down the hall and into his office. "And we'll have to contact Althea about this defective little Extended that General von Schadt gave to us."

"Understood, sir," Tupolev answered.

Harris shut off his intercom and sat back, scowling.

—

"This doesn't have to be so difficult," Shawn Bernard said sardonically, standing over the battered prisoner. "So for every volt we've introduced into you, you have no one to blame but yourself."

Bernard stood amusedly over Emily, on her knees with the soldiers holding her up by her arms. She already bore the bruises and bloodstains of five hours' worth of "interrogation," and extending from her side was a thin metal wire that led to a silver taser in the hands of one of the soldiers. She struggled to breathe, her head hanging and blood dripping down from her forehead.

"I'm a very patient man, Emily," Bernard continued, "but even I have my limits. And I'm sure you do as well. So let's make this easier for everyone." He leaned down next to her. "Tell me the _Minerva_'s destination."

Emily coughed weakly, blinking painfully at a drop of blood that landed on the floor before her. The faces of her friends on the _Minerva_ flashed into her cloudy mind—how could she betray them?

"A-Alaska..." she sputtered.

Bernard straightened up and glanced at the soldier with the taser, nodding. He pulled the trigger, and the air was split by a deafening scream as raw electricity surged through Emily's body for the eighth time that day. Emily's eyes bulged as her world devolved into nothing but sheer, blinding pain.

The soldier released the trigger, and only the guards holding her up kept Emily from slumping to the floor. Bernard heaved a sigh and leaned down next to her again.

"Emily, if you're going to lie to me, at least do it well," he said. "First of all, all our projected information on your course predicts that you're heading towards Carpentaria, which is nowhere near Alaska. And second, Alaska is the site of a newly-constructed Alliance base, and there is no plausible reason that the _Minerva_ would attack it right now. So I'm afraid that theory doesn't wash." He sighed again. "So I will ask again. Where is the _Minerva_ going?"

Emily coughed again, and more blood landed on the floor, next to Bernard's boot. "I...I don't...I don't know..."

Bernard reared back and backhanded her across the face, sending more blood flying. "Now, you see, you knew just a second ago," he said. "I told you I don't like it when I'm lied to."

Emily blinked again in pain, her world swimming around her. The horrible possibilities of what could happen to her next tried to stream through her head, but the pain dulled even her fear.

"Major, we've been at this for five hours," one of the guards said. "If she hasn't told us anything useful in five hours, she probably doesn't have anything useful to tell."

"She's a pilot aboard the most famous warship in the Resistance's fleet," Bernard answered. "She must have something important to tell us." He looked back down at the battered, bruised girl. "In which case, let's try a different line of questioning. Now, Emily, the ship you were on is very famous. You must know much about the Resistance's leadership, and we're quite eager to hear about it."

"I...I don't know..." Emily whispered, wincing as every syllable brought her pain.

Bernard stepped back and kicked her in the stomach; she gagged and coughed up blood. "Why are you making me do this?" he asked wearily. "I can keep at this all day, Emily, but I don't think you can survive many more taser bursts. So will you admit defeat?"

"...b-but I don't know..." she protested, heaving and gasping for air.

Bernard slapped her face. "I'm sure you do."

"...but...I don't..."

Another slap. "But you must."

"But...but I don't!"

Another slap. "You are testing my patience, Emily."

"I...I don't..."

Bernard glanced at the soldier with the taser again, and watched impassively as more electricity went tearing through her body. The soldier released the trigger, and Emily almost slipped from the guards' grips and collapsed to the floor.

"One way or another, I'm going to get the truth out of you, Emily," Bernard said.

Emily painfully squeezed her eyes shut, as her tears mixed with blood, and tried not to think.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Murmansk Oblast, Russia**

It was all happening again.

Shinn Asuka stood on the _Minerva_'s deck, hands clenched around the railing, staring painfully into the gray, cloudy sky and ignoring the biting cold. The faces returned in his mind's eye, boring into him and tearing down his soul.

There were his mother, his father, and Mayu, lying in pools of blood on that slope on Onogoro Island so long ago. He could not protect them—in CE 71 he had no power, and could only stare in horror at what was left of his family, his world, burning and rotting on the hillside as the sounds of war went silent in his ears. Everything he knew and cherished, gone, in a single terrible instant.

There was the face of Rey Za Burrel, his comrade, his wingman, his friend. They fought the enemies of ZAFT together and Rey extended the comforting hand of direction to a life without it. But that only recalled the pain of betrayal, as Chairman Dullindal's new world turned out to be one that Shinn could not fight for if it would cost Stella's life. And that left the face of his comrade, his wingman, his friend fighting him to the death in front of Messiah.

There was Lunamaria Hawke, the girl who had found a way to fight by his side even until the end, sacrificing home and family and country. Of all those that his actions at the Battle of Arzachel Crater had affected, it was her that he regretted the most. And yet when they finally met again aboard the _Megami_, she had held no ill will towards him, and they had fought as friends for the last battles of the war. But he could only see the fiery explosion that claimed another friend, another piece of his world.

There were the faces of the Mad Typhoon Gang, the space pirates who gave him a home when he had nothing but a Gundam, a name, and an Extended who relied on him for protection. George was there again, guiding him through the reality of the Cosmic Era and showing him what really happened outside the laminated armor of the _Minerva_ and the glitzy townhouses of Orb. Kika was there again, holding him up as he suffered through the pain of his powers, and, if only for a moment, ensuring that he would not be alone. But that all disappeared in a baneful blast of fire, because he had not been strong enough to protect them from Kira Yamato.

And now it was happening again.

Even at this distance, Shinn could feel Emily's suffering, driving into his brain like a knife. She was in pain. Every so often, the pain would spike—the Phantom Pain was torturing her. And the only thing he could do was sit here and suffer through it and hope that there would still be an Emily left to rescue. And she was out there because he had not been strong enough to protect her. It was the same damn story, playing itself out again, mocking him and his weakness.

He didn't bother looking over his shoulder as Stella Loussier emerged onto the deck, coming up next to him and staring silently at him.

"It's cold," Stella murmured. "How come Shinn's out in the cold...?"

"It's nothing," he said, and closed his eyes, not bearing to look at her.

"...is Emily okay?"

Shinn tightened his fists around the railing. "No," he said painfully, "she's not."

—

Another spike of pain flashed up through the consciousness of Rau Le Creuset. He winced at the feeling, but quashed it with practiced ease. This was the price for being captured, after all.

The _Minerva_ was seething with emotion right now, much to Rau's annoyance—which made for another reason to find the _Minerva_'s wayward pilot and rescue her from the dubious auspices of the Phantom Pain. Not that there was a shortage of those—Rau turned over the presence in his mind, even as he continued to search for information on this ever so important little girl.

He scanned over what little information he already had. Emily was certainly a Newtype, the daughter of the wealthy and influential Gerhardt von Oldendorf, and formerly of Lord Djibril's household staff. But that was all there was, it seemed, even to the Phantom Pain.

On the other hand...a thought occurred to him, and Rau brought up a search engine, a small smile playing at his lips, even as the pain in the distance flared up again. Information about Emily herself was sparse; information about Viveka was equally sparse and seemed somewhat irrelevant; and information about Gerhardt was either equally irrelevant or ran up against the wall of "state secrets." But the mother...

Rau grinned as he set to work. _Lorelei von Oldendorf...perhaps you have what I'm looking for_.

—

Athrun Zala had lived through the emotional trauma of having his world wrenched from him more than once in his young life. The Earth Alliance had destroyed Junius 7 and turned his world into a soldier's world; his father had sought to destroy the Naturals and turned his world into a rebel's world; Cagalli had held aloft the banner of war on the Seirans and turned his world into a revolutionary's world; Rau Le Creuset had tried to destroy everything with his vengeful sword and turned his world into a broken world. But all of that trauma had not hardened to his heart entirely to the sight before him.

Slumped against the wall of the observation deck, Viveka was a shuddering, tear-stained mess. She looked up blearily at Athrun as he approached, and even the tired old soldier had to choke back a tear of his own.

"The Phantom Pain took my eye," she said quietly. Athrun blinked, his own eyes wandering to the eyepatch on her face. "When they were interrogating me. They got mad at me and gouged out my eye." She shook her head. "Is that what they'll do to Emily? What will they do to her?"

Athrun paused to choose his words—and decided not to mention the bursts of pain he had felt from somewhere in the distance all day. "The Alliance won't bother expending energy on her once they've determined she knows nothing of interest to them," he said carefully, "and I don't think Emily knows anything of interest to them."

Viveka stared down at her metal hand, and Athrun uneasily wondered if she had the Phantom Pain to thank for that as well. "But they're the Phantom Pain," she protested. "They broke every single standing law about treatment of prisoners of war when they had me captive."

Athrun knelt down next to her. "Emily is stronger than that," he said; Viveka looked up at him, blinking. "When she has to, she comes through and fights, even if she's afraid."

Viveka buried her face in her mismatched hands, and Athrun simply put a hand on her shoulder and let her cry, as another spike of pain surged through his consciousness.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The soft, cool fabric of the maintenance bed was there to hold Kyali up as she awoke, inside the familiar Plexiglas bubble. The atmosphere inside was cool and misty, but a moment later the dome slid open with a hiss, and Kyali pulled herself out.

"Another block-wording behind you, I see," the technician in charge said with a sigh. "Brainwaves are normal again, so I guess you're done here."

"Okay," Kyali said quietly, grabbing her uniform shirt from the peg near the door and throwing it on. "I should probably go do somethin' useful, huh."

"As long as you don't make the colonel mad," the technician warned.

Kyali stepped out of the maintenance pod room, a plan taking shape in her mind. The cell block was monitored at all times by cameras, but the men watching those cameras were probably not likely to be paying attention. Still, it would not hurt to give them nothing to pay attention to—and a Class II Extended had enough computer-hacking skills to splice footage and insert it into the network undetected.

And, she thought, seeing in her mind's eye the curved combat-knife in her quarters, while the Alliance's soldiers were trained to at least be competent at close-quarters combat, they could not easily do so in the dark.

_She was nice to me,_ Kyali reminded herself, heading for her room. _So I'll have to protect her._

—

"It's not often you use a videophone," Robert Meyers observed with a smile, sitting back in his office in faraway Washington D.C. "What's the occasion, Harris?"

Harris Meyers grinned back. "The _Minerva_ is the occasion, father," he said. "I captured one of their machines, and the pilot, intact."

"Did you," Robert said, arching an eyebrow in surprise. "From the _Minerva?_"

"From the _Minerva_," Harris replied. "We're doing a full burn for Moscow right now. But they'd have to break onto the ship to find her, and I don't think they'll be able to accomplish that."

"Her?" Robert echoed. "You know, Harris, I've been hearing rumors that the _Minerva_ has some new pilots, one of which is just a teenage girl."

Harris's eyes darkened. "That's the one we got," he said. "Her name is Emily von Oldendorf. The Gundam we captured is a Destiny unit that they call the Twilight Gundam, and it seems to have been constructed from spare parts. But we won't know much about its insides until we get it to Moscow."

"Well," Robert said, "nevertheless, to have taken something from the _Minerva_ is no small feat. So congratulations." He smiled. "You seem to have become a capable soldier."

Harris smiled himself. "Everyone at Volkov Crater said that I was only being made a colonel because of you," he said. "It's my duty to be the most capable soldier I can be."

"Of course." Robert shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I would also like to ask if you're still using that Extended girl. She'd be something of a political liability were it to come out."

The senator blinked in surprise as Harris's visage dimmed with frustration. "I suspect we will not be using Kyali much longer," he said grimly. "She's become rebellious and disinclined to follow orders. Once we reach Moscow, I may consider sending her back to Althea Crater. General von Schadt clearly needs to do some more work on her."

"I understand," Robert said with a nod. "I'm afraid I have work to do, so I cannot stay long, but I am proud of you for your accomplishment today."

"Thank you, father," Harris said.

—

It said something that the screams were audible even through the metal door.

Gregory Hayden stared at the door of the room in which the captive Resistance pilot was being, as the guards put it, "interrogated." They had posted no guards outside the room—because none, they believed, were necessary. But he had seen the pilot of the mysterious ZAFT Gundam in the hangar being dragged away by the guards, and still could not believe that it was a teenage girl they had in chains. Was the Resistance that desperate?

Another scream rang through the door. Hayden blinked—and if that was the pilot, and she was in there, then that meant they were torturing her.

He wondered who they were to do that—to torture a child, even if that child was an enemy. The reflex that he had trained since his days at Volkov Crater kicked in—that Resistance members frequently if not automatically resorted to such tactics or worse, that Resistance members were not soldiers and didn't enjoy the provisions of the Corsica Treaty, that Resistance prisoners got what they deserved.

But as he listened to the screams from the other side of the door, those excuses began to ring hollow.

Hayden shook his head and shoved the sounds from his ears, resolutely walking away. He was a good soldier, he told himself, and he would follow orders.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The bridge was quiet as the _Minerva_ sailed forward, trailing the _Bonaparte_ as it raced south towards Moscow. Abbey was quietly working with Roxy at her console, while Meyrin sat in silence in the captain's chair, staring wearily out the bridge windows, over the snow-caked landscape. Athrun and Rau stood near the captain's chair, while Auel was seated on the steps nearby.

"The mechanics are hurrying the repairs," Athrun said grimly, "but until then, I guess there isn't much we can do."

"This sucks," Auel put in.

"We'll close in and attack as soon as our machines are ready," Meyrin said. "We won't leave her to die. I can guarantee that much."

Athrun winced again as the pain shot up from the _Bonaparte_. "I hope there's something left to rescue," he sighed. "I...I can't believe they've been doing this all day."

"They have?" Auel asked, glancing up at him.

"I've been feeling spikes of pain all day," Athrun explained. "I'm sure I'm not the only one. They're...torturing her."

"Well," Auel mumbled, looking back out the windows, "that's a downer."

"If she is still alive, then that is a testament to her resilience," Rau said with a hint of approval. "Nevertheless, the Alliance clearly had a plan that they executed flawlessly in capturing her. If we are to recover her, we will need a plan of our own."

"We have enough infantry to take that ship, I think," Meyrin said. "But we'll need the mobile suits to tie up their MS force and break the ship open, first."

"Well," Auel said, clenching his fists, "now they've gone and made it personal."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The sixteenth taser burst of the day had not elicited anything more than another agonized scream, and with a sigh, Bernard finally took a step back.

"Your perseverance in the face of pain impresses me, Emily," he said. "But know that the Corsica Treaty's provisions on the treatment of prisoners of war do not extend to members of the Resistance. Consider that, and know that I am willing to do what it takes to extract from you your knowledge of our enemy."

Emily looked up painfully at him, trembling as the implications trickled into her brain. She looked into the dark eyes of the major, and saw there the million fates she had feared inside that Windam long ago. Bernard scowled at her.

"Lieutenant," he said, gesturing to the man beside him, "no respite. I will be in my quarters. Inform me of any changes."

"Yes sir," the lieutenant said, as Bernard left. The door slammed shut behind him—the lieutenant glared down sardonically at the battered prisoner. "Maybe being electrocuted isn't enough for you, eh?" He glanced up at the men holding Emily up. "Perhaps we need to try a different tactic."

The door opened again—the men glanced over their shoulders, only to turn in surprise as the lights went out and the door slid shut again—

Emily blinked in shock as the sounds of a scuffle reached her ears, as men's voices cried out and gasped and coughed, and the gruesome sound of something being stabbed into human flesh filled the room. The arms supporting her gave way, and she sank to the floor, collapsing into blood—either hers or someone else's, but she could no longer tell.

The lights came on, and Emily winced at the feeling, as she found all of the soldiers lying around her, dead, with hideous stab wounds in their chests or necks. Standing above them, hand on the light switch, clutching a bloody knife, was—

"K-Kyali...?"

Kyali Sekar dropped her knife and pulled Emily back up, propping her up against the wall. "Oh, man, they really screwed you up," she said nervously. She grabbed the nearest soldier and ripped off his shirt, tearing the unstained back into strips and setting to work bandaging Emily's wounds.

"Why did you...save me?" Emily asked quietly, as Kyali wiped the blood from her forehead.

"Why are you in the Resistance?" Kyali asked back, grabbing another dead soldier's shirt to provide more bandaging material. "Jeez, they would've killed you if they'd kept this up much longer..."

"...y-you saved me..." Emily murmured, wincing as Kyali tied the impromptu bandage over a cut on her arm.

"Well, look," Kyali said, "the Alliance does some pretty awful things to me, like, all the time. And I don't want that to happen to you."

"...but why?"

Kyali looked into Emily's pain-clouded eyes. "Because you were nice to me."

Emily watched the young Extended for a moment. "You could...come with us," she said.

Kyali shook her head, and helped hoist Emily to her feet. "This'll go a lot easier if you can walk by yourself," she said. "Think you can do it?"

Emily took a hesitant step forward, and mustered up her strength. She knew she couldn't stay here—and now she had someone on her side. The fear of death made for a strong motivator, and she struggled to ignore the pain as she followed Kyali out.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"The mobile suits will proceed forward and take out the enemy land-ship's MS force," Roxy explained. "After that, we've got an infantry force ready for you guys to give the word, and they'll break onto the ship and find Emily." She paused uncomfortably. "Good luck, guys."

Inside the Destiny Gundam, Shinn Asuka felt his fury surge through him as the Destiny locked itself into the _Minerva_'s catapult. He had watched all his friends die before, helpless and unable to stop them. But he could still feel the flickering pressure of Emily's life on that ship—and that meant there was still something to save.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, _taking off!_"

The Destiny rocketed forward, with the Savior following from the port catapult. Shinn glanced over at Viveka as the Savior fell into formation next to him.

"I'm going in with the infantry," she said pointedly. "I'm not gonna stop until I see my little sister and know that she's safe."

"I think we're all going in with the infantry at this point," Shinn said darkly. "But we'll bring her back, I promise!"

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

Hiding in the shadows of the hangar, Kyali and Emily watched from behind the Twilight as the Rosso Aegis took off through the _Bonaparte_'s main doors in the hangar's ceiling. Emily glanced over at Kyali as the mechanics began waving a Windam into launch position.

"You can come with us," Emily said painfully, as Kyali scanned the hangar for guards. "We can...help you..."

"I'm an Extended," Kyali answered, her voice a whisper. "If I did that, I'd die." She glanced up at the boarding platform next to the Twilight. "So I'm going to protect you, so you can go back home."

"But they'll punish you," Emily protested. "If they did this to me...then they'll do even worse to you."

Kyali smiled sadly. "I'm an Extended," she repeated. "They changed my body so that I can't survive without them. What more can they do to me?" She put her hands on Emily's bruised and bloody shoulders. "I'm glad I met you. It's been a long time since anyone was ever nice to me. So I want you to go back to where you can be happy, 'cuz it sure isn't here."

"But...but I would have to leave you behind," Emily murmured.

"Then you'll have to," Kyali said with a shrug.

The _Bonaparte_ rocked as something outside exploded, and Kyali held Emily down as the mechanics cursed and the ship rattled. Emily blinked in surprise at the feeling of a familiar presence.

"Shinn..." she whispered.

"Was he that guy who was with you in the city?" Kyali asked; Emily nodded brokenly, and Kyali smiled again. "I think he can protect you better than I can. But you've gotta get out of here."

"Kyali..." Emily started.

"I'll distract everyone," Kyali said. "But you've gotta go back home."

With that, Kyali pressed a kiss against Emily's cheek and rushed out of the shadows, towards the Strike E. She leapt up the boarding platform and into the cockpit, and the Strike E came to life with a flash of its Phase Shift. It stepped forward, but let its rifle slip from its grasp and clatter to the hangar floor.

"Hey!" one of the mechanics shouted. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Sorry, guys! I'm real tired," Kyali's voice answered on the loudspeaker.

Emily mustered up her strength and leapt onto the boarding platform in front of the Twilight, raising the platform up to the cockpit and diving inside. The mechanics and guards turned in disbelief, only to watch the Twilight's cockpit slam shut.

Inside, Emily let out a sigh of relief as she felt her familiar machine come online, protecting her with its Phase Shift armor. She watched the Strike E take off—a moment later, looking down, she saw a painfully familiar figure among the shocked guards and mechanics on the hangar floor. She magnified the image—

The terrible face of Shawn Bernard was there, yelling at a soldier. Her eyes flashed; the seed fell before her—

The Twilight tore itself free from its brace, lunging forward. Bernard looked up in horror at the black Gundam as it reared back, and with a scream, Emily brought her left-hand palm cannon down on top of the terrified Bernard, ignoring the feeling of his death as she burned him away.

Emily looked up at the open roof, and the battle in the skies above the _Bonaparte_. Kyali's words echoed in the back of her head, and she took off with a flash of exhaust.

—

The Rosso Aegis brought its beam saber down with a crash onto the sword of the Destiny Gundam. Shinn snarled furiously, surging forward to throw the Rosso Aegis back, and leveled off his long-range cannon to open fire on an incoming pair of Windams in the process.

"I'm not going to break another promise!" he snapped. The Rosso Aegis came storming in again—Shinn charged, battering it aside with his sword and racing towards the _Bonaparte_.

All eyes turned to the ship as the Twilight Gundam rocketed out of the hangar, beam wings flashing to life and tearing a pair of Windams in two lengthwise. Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief as he felt the familiar pulse of Emily inside.

"Emily!" he cried. "Is that you—?"

The Aegis whirled around, beam rifle drawn. "How the hell did _you_ get loose?" Harris shouted, opening fire—an instant later, however, the Strike E was there to deflect the shots with its shield. "_What?_"

"Don't you dare!" Kyali shouted. "I won't let you do to Emily what you always do to me!"

"Kyali!" Harris shot back. "Get out my way! _Disappear!_"

Kyali's eyes flashed wide with fear, but the Twilight pulled the Strike E aside, deploying its beam shield to block the Rosso Aegis's beam blasts.

"You won't disappear!" Emily cried. Kyali blinked in surprise, staring at the bruised and bandaged Emily on the Strike's screen. "I'll save you! You aren't gonna disappear!"

"I-I'm not?" Kyali murmured.

"_You will!_"

Out of nowhere, the Rosso Aegis roared into the fray in mobile armor mode, clamping its claws down around the Strike E and rocketing towards the _Bonaparte_.

"Kyali!" Emily screamed, whirling around and leveling off her beam rifle at the Rosso Aegis. The Destiny dropped in to seize the Twilight by the arms.

"Don't, Emily! We're going back to the _Minerva!_" Shinn cut her off.

The Destiny pulled the Twilight back towards the _Minerva_, and the two Gundams took off.

—

To be continued...


	15. Phase 15: Feeling

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 15 - Feeling

—

**March 4th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The mechanics watched in silence as Harris sent Kyali sprawling with a devastating blow to the face.

"Who the hell do you think you are, releasing a prisoner without authorization?" Harris roared, as Kyali crawled back to her feet. "After all the work we went through to make that capture!"

"You're an evil man!" Kyali shot back, rising back to her feet. "You would've done to her what you always do to me! I was right to save her!"

Harris glanced at the soldiers flanking her. "Take her back to the maintenance bed chamber," he ordered. "Obviously you have much to learn about obeying your superiors."

The soldiers yanked Kyali away. Tupolev watched them go tiredly for a moment, and glanced back at Harris. "Are you going to continue using her?" he asked.

Harris heaved a sigh. "We don't have much choice right now," he said. "If the _Minerva_ attacks again, we'll need every gun we can get. But we'll definitely have to discipline her." He cast a dark glance through the doorway Kyali had been taken through. "This will not happen again."

"I understand," Tupolev said with a nod.

"Get everything back up to speed," Harris instructed. "Our prize was stolen from us, and I'm not going to let that go without a fight."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

Emily blinked in surprise and disorientation to the cheers that greeted her as she emerged from the Twilight's cockpit in the hangar of the _Minerva_. She looked around wearily, finding the mechanics cheering and the pilots rushing towards her. Viveka was the first to reach her, and the first thing Emily felt was pain as her sister aggravated the wounds and bruises with an enthusiastic hug.

"Oh God, Emily, I'm so sorry, I'll never let that happen again!" Viveka cried, tears in her eye as she wrapped her sister in an unshakable embrace. Emily glanced over Viveka's scarred shoulder at Shinn as he approached, his eyes dim and his face somber.

"I-It's alright," Emily said tiredly. "I survived..."

"But that's still something you shouldn't have had to go through," Shinn said quietly. Emily looked into his crimson eyes and saw more pain there than he was letting on. She wondered how many old wounds of his own this incident had opened. "So I'm sorry I failed to—"

"It's okay," Emily interrupted. "Really."

Shinn watched her a moment and said nothing more.

"Bridge, we've got Emily secured," Athrun said into his headset. "Send down a medical team." He looked back at Emily. "It's good to have you back."

Emily smiled back weakly. "I still wanna rescue the Strike's pilot," she said. "It's the Extended from Murmansk. She saved me."

"Attacking that ship again is too risky," Abbey's voice protested from the headset.

"Well, the Phantom Pain can't go unpunished," Sting shot back.

"The first order of business," Athrun interrupted, as the medical team arrived, "is to make sure you're okay." He gestured to the stretcher. "So let's go find out."

—

**March 5th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The Plexiglas dome of the maintenance bed muffled the screams, but no matter how loud they were, they mattered little to Harris Meyers as he watched Kyali writhe in agony inside her maintenance bed. He glanced over at the technicians—the stimuli they were introducing into the chamber had the effect of recalling in her mind the traumatic memories associated with her block word, the same memories that returned when he spoke her block word—but this time the maintenance bed was no escape. He recalled that she had gotten lost and "disappeared" at one point during her time on Lodonia Island, before she was moved to Althea Crater. The memory of being lost and alone had produced the block word—and clearly, it still held sway.

The lead technician glanced over warily at Harris. "Colonel, is this really necessary?" he asked. "I know she has discipline problems, but the more stress you inflict on her, the less stable she'll be."

Harris's eyes flashed darkly. "I have other things in mind to drive my point home," he said, "but by the time I'm done with her, she will know better than to defy me."

The technician blanched. "I hope you're not thinking of _that_ again, sir," he protested. "The stress that causes—"

"Is your problem," Harris cut him off. "I may well just send her back to Althea once we reach Moscow anyway. Her tactical utility and the combat data she's collected on the Strike E aren't worth these incidents." He reached over his shoulder to activate the intercom. "Tupolev, what's our ETA to Moscow?"

"Currently inestimable, sir," Tupolev answered. "A blizzard cropped up near Lake Onega last night. We'd have to either go around that or wait for it to pass, and right now we have no reliable information on how long either would take."

Harris cursed under his breath. "I see," he said. "Get us past Onega as soon as possible, then, and we'll figure out where to go from there."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"A taser probe, I see," the head doctor said quietly, as he examined Emily's wounds, particularly the metal probe embedded in her side. Emily winced as the doctor gingerly removed it, replacing it with a well-bound bandage. "The taser is designed to deliver an incapacitating and painful but non-lethal electric shock. I'm not surprised that was their method of choice." He set the bloody probe aside as the nurses finished the remainder of her bandages. "It doesn't look like there's anything permanent, but you certainly need to rest."

Emily nodded wearily, as Viveka, sitting at her side, hugged her again. "At least they didn't do anything worse than that," she sighed.

"I don't advise any mobile suit piloting for a few days," the doctor continued. "You need to recuperate—at least long enough for the penetrated skin to scab up."  
Emily looked up painfully. "The Alliance pilot was the one who saved me," she said quietly. "I have to go back for her."

"Not like this you can't," the doctor protested.

"I can't leave her behind," Emily answered.

"We'll worry about it later," Viveka cut her off. "You can't do anything right now until you rest."

—

"The enemy land-ship is heading south towards Moscow," Burt reported on the _Minerva_'s bridge. "But there's a pretty nasty storm near Lake Onega that might slow them down."

"They're probably trying to get in range of friendly units," Abbey said, crossing her arms and leaning against the mapping console. "But we have our captured pilot and machine back, so this isn't a battle we necessarily need to fight."

Meyrin glanced up at her. "It is," she said quietly. "Would we be the _Minerva_ if we didn't take the opportunity to destroy a Phantom Pain unit?"

Abbey shrugged. "I suppose not."

"The land-ship's course seems to be taking them close to Lake Ladoga," Burt added. Abbey glanced up at the map on the main screen.

"The closest base is the St. Petersburg Regional Air Base," she said. "But they seem to be heading for Moscow."

"Either way, once we push them up against the lake, they'll have nowhere to go," Meyrin said. "The _Hannibal_-class can't operate on water."

"But we still need to get to Carpentaria," Abbey protested. "The longer we take—"

"I know," Meyrin cut her off. "But I think we can afford to take a long enough detour to destroy a unit that tortured one of our own." She narrowed her eyes at the horizon, where the enemy land-ship was waiting out there, somewhere. "There are some people who call us the proof of God's justice. I think what the Phantom Pain did to our pilot deserves a little demonstration of that."

Abbey nodded reluctantly. "Understood."

—

Although he was not a man known for his vices, it was an unwritten rule aboard the _Minerva_ that the galley's meager kitchen was Athrun Zala's domain. He had long ago dazzled his crewmates with a theretofore unknown culinary prowess that put his skills in high demand among a crew that was mostly used to freeze-dried camping food, "military rations" that were often accused of being recycled mobile suit parts, or instant ramen that required boiling water to be edible but could never be made appetizing. When pressed about it, Athrun would sheepishly explain that he learned to cook with the Orb Raiders, in order to break the tedium during their long stay in the ruins of Heliopolis.

As such, Athrun had decided to hole himself up there for the morning. It was his judgment that after enduring the electric shocks and the truncheons of the Phantom Pain, Emily at the very least deserved some better food than a Styrofoam cup full of instant ramen and boiled water that hadn't quite mixed right, and so Athrun had set to work with what little he had to feed her what he deemed a proper meal. And as such, he was surprised to find Stella in the kitchen with him.

It was another unwritten rule, he reflected absently, that Stella wasn't allowed in the kitchen—because nobody felt safe with her around open burners, knives, and boiling water. He could still remember an incident from CE 74 that had involved all three and ended with an awkward visit to sickbay.

"Be careful, Stella," Athrun warned, glancing over his shoulder as he found her going through the utensils. "You remember what happened that one time..."

"It was Auel's fault," Stella mumbled. Athrun smiled—technically, that was true. "Stella wants to help Emily get better..."

"The doctor's doing that," Athrun said, glancing over at his pot of water as it came to a boil. He glanced around at his ingredients, and sighed unhappily. "I guess we didn't stock the kitchen at Poljarny."

"What is Athrun making...?" Stella asked quietly, as she emerged from the cabinet with a pitcher in hand.

"The end goal is a plate of spaghetti," Athrun answered with a shrug, "if I can find enough pasta. It's better than most of the stuff we could give Emily, and I suppose she deserves it after such a long and terrible day."

Stella smiled slowly. "Stella is glad that Emily's back..."

Athrun glanced back at her again and smiled back. "I am too."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The men inside the quiet crew lounge of the _Bonaparte_ looked up in surprise as the door slid open. A moment later, Kyali Sekar was thrown into the room, her arms bound by handcuffs, and stumbled to the floor. The men inside blinked in surprise, before dutifully rising to their feet to salute Harris Meyers on the other side of the threshold.

Three more soldiers entered the room to grab Kyali by the arms, holding her down on the floor as Harris returned the salute. "As you all know, this Extended has been causing us some problems lately," he said, casting a burning glance towards Kyali as she tremulously looked around. "Obviously she has yet to learn what it means to obey her superiors' commands."

"Then, uh, what are we supposed to do, sir?" one of the soldiers asked.

Harris glanced at him, and Kyali's eyes went wide in horror. "We haven't had shore leave in a while," he said, "so I'm sure there's plenty of pent-up emotion running high here." He looked back at Kyali, heedless of her terror. "Consider it a morale boost."

The men glanced at each other, and back at the quaking Extended in their midst, connecting the dots—and several of them broke out in grins.

"Harry, you said you wouldn't do this again!" Kyali protested, as one of the soldiers forced her to her knees. "You promised—!"

"Perhaps you should have thought of that before you decided to defy me," Harris said, glaring back at her. He looked back up at his men. "Don't break her permanently—we may need her again in combat shortly. Just teach her the meaning of the word 'obedience.'"

The soldiers grinned down at their captive. "Yes sir."

The door slammed shut, and Harris turned towards Tupolev, standing at his side. "Have you heard anything from St. Petersburg?"

"They told me they have no units to spare," Tupolev said with a sigh, following as Harris started down the corridor. "Either way, the blizzard will force us towards Lake Ladoga. Once we reach the lake, we'll have to face the _Minerva_ whether we have friendly units in support or not."

"I'll sacrifice Kyali if I have to," Harris said with a shrug. "She's been nothing but a disappointment so far anyway."

"Yes sir," Tupolev said, "but General von Schadt won't be happy."

"General von Schadt should have done a better job on her," Harris snorted. "We can always get another Extended anyway. Von Schadt never runs out of subjects in need of testing." He glanced over at Tupolev. "Expedite the mobile suit repairs. I'm sure the _Minerva_ will be looking for revenge."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The doctor's orders were to rest, and since the captain was still fleshing out a battle plan and the mechanics were still hard at work in the hangar, that left Emily with little to do but follow the doctor's orders. She had food in her, courtesy of the cooking skills of Athrun Zala—skills that she was suddenly extremely grateful for—and only then had she realized that the Phantom Pain had not fed her during her brief but painful captivity. But now she was surrounded by the laminated armor of the _Minerva_, and two of the infantrymen who had been assigned to break onto the Alliance land-ship and rescue her had volunteered to stand guard outside her room, should she require the peace of mind of armed protection. She pulled the covers of her bed tighter around herself, but sleep was still a ways off—

_Stop it!_

Emily's eyes flashed wide. Something went shooting up her spine, into her brain—a presence, distorted, flickering and quivering, burning with suffering and humiliation.

_That...is that..._ her thoughts started, breaking off as the feeling spiked again.

_Don't touch me!_

Emily squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her head in her hands. "That's Kyali...she's...oh my God—"

She struggled to cling to rational thought as the agony washed over her—physical pain, humiliation, suffering, betrayal, it all pointed to one conclusion. She squeezed the tears out of her eyes, trying to block it out—but the feeling was there, crushing every defense she could muster. Was this what she had meant when she asked what more they could do to her? Was this the answer?

Emily grimaced as the pain rippled across her consciousness. To know what was going on just over the horizon, and to think that all she could do was helplessly lie here and suffer as well—

_Let me go!_

Emily doubled over as the sensations strengthened. She cracked an eye open at the sound of the door, finding Stella and Shinn emerging into her room.

Shinn blinked in disbelief at the wall of emotion coming from Emily, and rushed over to her. "Emily! What's wrong?"

Emily clamped a hand over her mouth, cringing as the feeling worsened. "K-Kyali..." she started. "She's—"

For a moment there was nothing but silence, until Shinn's eyes widened in disbelief as the feeling struck him too, and he put a hand to his temple to stay the pain. "Oh no," he murmured. "They're seriously..." He looked down at Emily. "This must be why you want to rescue her."

"I...I have to..." Emily clenched her free hand around the covers.

Shinn glanced nervously at Stella. "An Extended isn't like a normal human," he began.

Hearing her name, Stella stepped up next to Shinn, looking down pointedly at Emily and silencing Shinn. "Stella doesn't want her friends to get hurt," she said.

Emily looked up painfully at the blonde Extended, staring back resolutely. "Kyali is my friend," she said brokenly, "but she's...in trouble..."

"You should always protect your friends," Stella said.

Emily looked over painfully at Shinn; he nodded warily, and they both winced at the suffering beyond the horizon.

—

**March 6th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"If we push them against the lake," Meyrin said, with Abbey, Auel, Rau, Sting, and Athrun around her as they all gazed down at the mapping console on the _Minerva_'s bridge, "then they'll have nowhere to go. If we press the attack and chew through their Windam force, they'll have no choice but to deploy the Strike E. From there, Emily can convince the pilot to defect, or if need be, capture the unit."

Abbey glanced dubiously up at Meyrin. "What are we going to do with the Extended?" she asked. "Sting, Stella, and Auel are special cases. Not all Extended are like them."

"Rescuing an Extended from the Alliance is always worth it," Sting said sharply, arms crossed.

"They do terrible things to the Extended," Auel added, glaring. "They're as much victims of the Alliance's cruelty as anyone else. They deserve the same respect."

"It would weaken the enemy ship's fighting strength," Rau put in, before an argument could erupt. "They would be that much easier to destroy."

"If we make another frontal assault, we'll run the risk of coming up against another attempt to capture a pilot," Athrun pointed out. "They seem to have an interest in capturing us as opposed to just plain killing us." He looked back down at the map. "And I'm sure they're expecting an attack, so if we can somehow surprise them, we can interrupt whatever plan they have." He pointed down at a space on the map near the _Bonaparte_'s position. "There's a forest here. If we can lure them towards the ship, and hide some of our mobile suits in the forest, we can flank them or hit them from behind before they realize it."

Meyrin glanced at Athrun, and he wondered if she was looking for approval. "Then Sting and Auel will stay behind with the ship," she said. "The rest of the pilots will hide in the forest and attack when you have the chance."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"I hope you've learned your lesson," Harris growled as the soldiers threw a limp and lifeless Kyali back into her maintenance bed. "A normal soldier would have been executed for what you did, and if I had my way, the same would go for you."

The lid snapped shut, and Harris stormed out the door. Kyali groaned as the calm, misty air of the maintenance pod began to circulate around her. All night they had done whatever they wished with her, and although Harris had ordered them not to "permanently" damage her, she didn't feel as though those orders had been obeyed.

She thought back painfully to the last time this had happened—and after it had landed her in the infirmary being treated for all manner of injuries that the head doctor had complained required a gynecologist more than a military doctor, it had resulted in Harris's promise not to subject this to her again. And, she supposed, that was a deal she had broken—because she was supposed to be obedient and no longer cause him problems.

But Emily's red-tinted face was there again to remind her that this was not mere disobedience—she had done what was right. Now Emily was home, and that was what was important.

Kyali held back her tears and wondered what Emily was up to right now.

—

"You missed it," the mechanic in charge of the Sword Calamity said with a satisfied sigh as he plopped down onto a chair in the crew lounge. Gregory Hayden glanced up at him from his coffee.

"Missed what?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. The mechanic grinned.

"That Extended's been causing trouble, so the colonel handed her off to us to, y'know, teach a lesson," he explained. Hayden suddenly found his coffee unappetizing as he guessed where this was going. "I tell ya, man, she's kinda crazy, but get that uniform off her and she's a piece of ass."

"I see," Hayden coughed, looking away awkwardly. He was a good soldier. He would not question his superior.

"So where were you?" the mechanic went on. "You missed all the fun."

"I was, uh, busy," Hayden said. He was a good soldier. He would not question his superior.

"I could've lived without all the screaming," another crewman added wearily. "Gave me a headache."

"Yeah, well, Lieutenant Burns found a way to put an end to _that_," the mechanic chuckled.

Hayden stared down determinedly at his coffee. He was a good soldier. He would not question his superior.

"I kinda hope we didn't break her too badly, though," the mechanic continued. "We might need her if the _Minerva_ attacks again."

The soldier laughed. "We didn't have Corporal Cordova in there," he said. "If he was there, she wouldn't be able to remember her name."

Hayden squeezed his eyes shut. He was a good soldier. He would not question his superior.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"Emily," Viveka's voice asked, echoing inside the cockpit of the Twilight Gundam as Emily strapped herself in, "are you sure about this?"

Emily looked up determinedly at her sister. "Kyali saved me," she said. "And...I can't let them do that to her again." She shook her head. "I won't. I'll save her."

"But this soon after you got back? Are you sure you're up to it?" Viveka went on.

"What were they doing, anyway?" Auel asked, as he clicked the Abyss's seat restraints into place.

Emily, Shinn, and Athrun gave him a look—and Auel blinked in surprise and said no more.

"Be careful out there," Shinn added, glancing over at the Twilight. "They may try to capture you again. Make sure you keep away from the Aegis."

"Emily is crucial to this plan anyway," Rau said, with his ubiquitous smile.

"Mobile suit team, this is the bridge," Roxy interrupted. "Captain Hawke would like a word."

Meyrin's face appeared on the mobile suits' screens. "Sting and Auel will stay behind with the _Minerva,_" she said—Emily blinked and noted that Meyrin looked more determined than usual. "The rest of you will proceed forward under Athrun's direction to a forest along the enemy ship's course. Wait there until nightfall, and we'll move forward to draw the enemy in. Once they swallow the bait, Athrun's team will attack from behind. Emily will be responsible for attempting to capture the Strike."

"Understood," Athrun answered. "Sting, Auel, we'll leave the defense of the ship to you."

"Have fun freezing your asses off," Auel chuckled.

The Twilight shuddered as it stepped into the portside catapult. Emily narrowed her eyes determinedly as the catapult swung open. She had left Kyali behind, and they had punished her—but that would not happen again.

"Twilight, you're clear," Roxy said.

Emily clenched her fists around the controls. "Emily von Oldendorf, Twilight Gundam, taking off!"

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_

"Still no response from Moscow or St. Petersburg," Tupolev said grimly from the captain's chair on the _Bonaparte_'s bridge. "And the _Minerva_ looks to be speeding up."

Harris put a hand to his chin in thought. "I guess they figure the time is now to make the kill," he said. "They must think we're off balance from having our prize wrenched from us."

"The mobile suits are ready to sortie," Tupolev said, "and this ship is capable of taking on the _Minerva_ as well."

Harris glanced at him dubiously. "This ship?" he repeated. "I'm not so sure, Yuri. The _Bonaparte_'s position is always on the ground, while the _Minerva_ can freely move throughout the air."

"The _Charlemagne_ damaged them," Tupolev pointed out. "We can do the same."

Harris shrugged. "I suppose. Order the Windam teams to prepare for combat. I'll head out myself shortly. It looks like the _Minerva_ is spoiling for a fight."

—

The Savior came to a stop in the clearing, and together, the six Gundams knelt to the ground of the forest to wait. Inside the Twilight, Emily glanced around at her allies—the Destiny and Gaia on her right, the Legend to her left, the Infinite Justice and Savior ahead of her. They would all wait here for the enemy to pass by—hopefully, no one would notice six Gundams lying in wait in the forest in the meantime. The Gundams extended wires out to each other for direct communication.

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Emily?" Viveka asked, scanning her sister's face worriedly. "It's pretty soon for you to be out here—"

Emily's eyes flashed as she felt the pain of feeling Kyali suffer beyond the horizon. "I'm going to save Kyali," she said, with more determination than she had ever known herself to possess. "She's the one who took out my guards and helped me escape. I can't leave her behind." She shook her head. "Not if they're going to do _that_ to her..."

"Do what to her?" Viveka asked.

"Don't," Athrun said quickly. "You don't want to know." He glanced around at the other Gundams. "We'll ambush the enemy ship from behind. Emily will handle the Strike—we'll take care of the rest."

"Stella and I will shoot down that Aegis unit," Shinn added. "It's not snatching anymore of us off the battlefield."

"Just stay away from its front when it enters mobile armor mode," Athrun advised. "If it gets its arms around you, you're in trouble." His eyes darkened. "Trust me."

"Shinn will protect us," Stella said confidently.

"I'll try," Shinn added, decidedly less confident.

"The enemy ship is approaching," Rau interrupted. "Shall we begin?"

—

The _Bonaparte_'s main guns had moved forward, leaving the tracks behind them clear for a squad of Windams to stand or kneel with beam rifles drawn, covering all approaches to the ship. The whole vessel rattled as it crunched its way forward—

Something on the stern of the ship exploded. The Windams turned in surprise, finding one of their own reduced to a cloud of debris. A wave of beam shots came streaking out of the forest to the _Bonaparte_'s starboard side, picking off three more Windams from the ship's hull before the rest could take cover behind their shields—

A moment later, the Gundams charged.

On the _Bonaparte_'s bridge, Harris turned in shock towards the screen, as it showed the _Minerva_'s Gundams emerging from the forest and attacking.

"An ambush?" Tupolev exclaimed. "All guns, prepare for defensive combat! Get the CIWS online!"

"Shit, they tricked us!" Harris snarled. "I'll go out in the Rosso Aegis! Damned _Minerva!_"

Outside, in the cockpit of the Twilight Gundam, Emily narrowed her eyes at the _Bonaparte_ as its mobile suits began to fire back. "I'll get you out of there, Kyali! I promise!"

The mobile suits began to lift off—a squad of Jet Dark Windams came streaking up towards the Twilight, beam rifles drawn. The Twilight lurched to the side, opening fire with its beam rifle and scattering the Windams. They circled around, firing off a volley of missiles—Emily drew back and cut them down with a burst of CIWS fire. The Twilight lunged out of the smoke, squeezing off another rifle shot to spear one of the Windams through the cockpit, blowing it apart.

"That's one!" Emily cried, ducking below the Windams' return fire. "I don't have time for you!"

The Twilight fired back, just in time for a wave of beam fire from the Savior Gundam to smash two of the Windams out of the sky. The remaining Windam turned in desperation, only to find the Destiny there, slashing it in two with its anti-ship sword.

"Emily! Attack the ship!" Shinn instructed, as the Destiny switched to its beam rifle.

Emily turned towards the _Bonaparte_ as it struggled onward, CIWS rounds and beam shots lancing from its hull into the sky. A familiar presence flashed into her mind as she charged, and the Twilight dove to the side—just as a shimmering red beam blast went searing across the sky.

Up ahead, the Rosso Aegis lunged into the sky, ignited its beam saber, and charged.

"_There you are!_" Emily screamed, her blood running hot. The Twilight took aim with its beam rifle, opening fire—

The shots landed against a shield, but it was not held by the Rosso Aegis. Emily's eyes went wide in disbelief, as she found the Aile Strike E there, shield in hand.

Inside, Kyali stared back with teary eyes.

—

To be continued...


	16. Phase 16: Battlefield of Tears

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 16 - Battlefield of Tears

—

**March 6th, CE 77 - Republic of Karelia, Russia**

Emily blinked in disbelief as she found the Aile Strike E looming between her and the Rosso Aegis, shield raised to deflect the Twilight's shots. The Rosso Aegis took off, but the Strike E remained, leveling off its beam rifle.

"Kyali!" Emily cried. "What—why did you protect him?"

The Strike E opened fire—Emily jerked the controls aside, sending the Twilight reeling, and ducked behind her beam shield as the Strike E followed, spitting beam blasts.

"Kyali! Why are you doing this?" Emily shouted, falling back as the Strike E showered her with rifle shots. "Why is she attacking me...?"

Kyali's face flashed onto the screen—Emily cringed as she saw the Extended's tear-streaked face. "Just go away!" Kyali snapped. "So we don't have to fight!"

"But we _don't_ have to fight!" Emily protested, throwing the Twilight back as the Strike E came down with a beam rifle volley. "Stop it! I'm here to save you!"

Kyali's eyes flashed, and Emily felt a chill run through her blood. "It's too late for that," Kyali said. "I...I have my orders!"

The Strike E attacked again, driving the Twilight back behind a wall of beam shots. Emily grunted as the Twilight shook and took off over the Strike E's head. "Kyali, stop this! You don't have to listen to him! You can leave!"

"You don't understand us Extended," growled Kyali, as the Strike E chased after the Twilight. "Just go! Or I'll shoot you down!"

"Kyali!"

"_Don't make me!_"

Emily ground her teeth in frustration, leveling off her own beam rifle and firing back at the Strike E's Aile Striker pack as it approached. "Why are you following his orders...?"

—

"So you're the bastard that's responsible for all this!" Shinn snarled, as the Destiny Gundam, flanked by the Gaia, came streaking in towards the Rosso Aegis. "I'll send you to hell myself!"

The Rosso Aegis whirled around, firing a round of beam blasts that went sailing harmlessly through the Destiny's afterimages. The Destiny snapped its own rifle up to return fire, but the Rosso Aegis spiraled up into the air above the shots.

"If that girl from Murmansk is piloting the Twilight," Harris growled, "then you must be...!"

The Destiny closed in, sword drawn, and brought it down with a crash on the Rosso Aegis's shield. Harris's eyes flashed furiously.

"Shinn Asuka!"

The Destiny surged forward, throwing the Rosso Aegis back. Harris somersaulted up over its head, and ducked aside as the Gaia lunged into the fray with a swipe from its beam saber.

"You're lucky I didn't realize who you were in Murmansk!" Harris yelled. "_But I'll correct that error now!_"

The Rosso Aegis showered the two Gundams with beam rifle fire, before taking off again. Shinn followed with a scream, sword pulled back for a killing blow.

"Come back here!" Shinn screamed. The Rosso Aegis whirled around, activating the saber on its right foot, and brought it down onto the sword's blade with a crash. The Gaia lunged up above the Destiny, spewing beam blasts and forcing the Rosso Aegis back behind its shield.

"You made Emily sad!" Stella shouted, as the Gaia charged, drawing a saber. "_I'll make you pay!_"

The Rosso Aegis brought its own saber down with a crash, stabbing forward and stopping the Gaia's deathblow. The Destiny ducked into the battle beside the Gaia, sword upraised—Harris swung back with his second saber, blocking the Destiny's sword stroke and leaving all three Gundams locked together in midair.

"Kyali!" Harris cried. "Continue attacking the Twilight until ordered! The _Minerva_ will regret this battle, I swear!"

—

"The Aegis is up there," Sting said as the Chaos and Abyss moved in ahead of the _Minerva_, gliding forward with wings spread. "_Minerva_, this is Chaos. Do we have permission to move forward and engage the enemy?"

"The enemy's MS forces are tied up by Athrun's team," Abbey answered. "I don't think we'll need them on defense, captain."

"Then move in and try to help Emily," Meyrin instructed. "We're getting this over with quickly."

"Let's go!" Auel roared—the two Gundams took off with a flash. "I'm not letting the Alliance have their way with another Extended!"

A wave of beam blasts forced the Chaos and Abyss apart, and both pilots glared up ahead as the Sword Calamity came roaring in, with two Windam beam rifles in hand on a sub-wing unit.

"I'll protect the ship," Hayden snarled, clenching his fists around the controls. "I'll follow my orders!"

The Sword Calamity opened fire with both rifles, forcing the Chaos and Abyss back. The Abyss fired back with a wave of beam shots—the Sword Calamity ducked beneath them and pounded back with a Scylla shot that nearly blew off the Abyss's head.

"Shit, we're gonna have to go through him!" Sting shouted. "Auel!"

"I see him!" Auel shot back—the Abyss lunged through the smoke, firing a Callidus blast that sent the Sword Calamity reeling. The Chaos fired off a volley of missiles that came streaking down around the Sword Calamity—Hayden blasted the missiles apart with his beam rifles, backing away and lunging above the smoke to fire back.

"If I can keep you two separated," Hayden growled, training his rifles on the two Gundams and firing again.

"I see this guy's gonna be difficult," Sting grunted, leveling off his beam rifle. "Auel, get around him!"

—

The Rosso Aegis rattled as a wave of beam shots pummeled its shield, forcing it back. Harris glared towards the sky, finding the Infinite Justice and Savior descending with a volley of beams. "Reinforcements?"

"Athrun, Viveka, flank him!" Shinn snarled, as the Destiny charged, sword in hand. "_We'll tear him to pieces!_"

The Destiny brought its sword down on the Rosso Aegis's saber with a crash, sending the red Gundam reeling. Harris ducked forward, below the Destiny's horizontal follow-up, and then darted aside to dodge the Gaia's beam rifle blast. The Savior followed up with a barrage of plasma cannon shots that forced the Rosso Aegis to dive out of the sky—directly into the path of the Infinite Justice, which sawed the Rosso Aegis's beam rifle in two with a beam blade-assisted kick.

"Dammit, it's four on one!" Harris snapped, taking cover behind his shield as the Justice showered him with beam cannon fire. The Destiny came plunging down from the sky with a devastating sword swipe, shattering the Rosso Aegis's shield. "My shield!"

The Rosso Aegis pulled back, ducking below the Gaia and Savior's beam barrages, and transformed with a flash into its mobile armor mode, igniting all four beam sabers and firing a pulsing Scylla burst across the sky.

"Patrick, get your team in here and cover me!" Harris cried. "I'm returning to the _Bonaparte_ for new equipment!"

The Rosso Aegis dove backward, beam sabers flailing and forcing the Justice back. The Destiny leveled off its long-range cannon, but an instant later the sky lit up with beam blasts, and a quartet of Dark Windams came streaking in, beam rifles blazing.

"Is he retreating...?" Athrun grunted, as the shots landed against his beam shield. "Dammit!"

"He'll have to come back eventually," Shinn snarled, brandishing his sword. "Athrun, Viveka, pull back to support the _Minerva!_ I'll take care of these guys!"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"_Minerva_, combat speed! Target the Tristans and Isolde onto the land-ship's bridge tower!"

The _Minerva_ shuddered as the Tristans and Isolde boomed, but the shots sailed wide as the _Bonaparte_ down below veered to the right, letting the shots slam into the snow.

"Such mobility...!" Abbey exclaimed. "How can they maneuver a ship like that?"

"Enemy ship has launched missiles!" Burt reported.

"CIWS, intercept!" Meyrin ordered. The _Minerva_'s CIWS shrieked to life, tearing the missiles out of the sky and throwing a cloud of smoke over the battlefield. "Malik, bring us down by five degrees!"

The _Minerva_ plunged down towards the ground as the _Bonaparte_ returned fire with four pulsing Gottfried blasts, ripping through the sky over the _Minerva_.

"Pull us in behind the enemy," Meyrin continued, as the _Minerva_ agonizingly banked to the right to slide in behind the fleeing land battleship. "They can still target us from here...Parsifal, fire! Malik, descend by twenty degrees and level out after six seconds!"

The _Minerva_'s missile tubes roared as a volley of Parsifal ground missiles came shrieking out, arcing down towards the _Bonaparte_. A wall of CIWS fire cut them out of the sky as the _Minerva_ plunged through the smoke.

Meyrin felt her blood run hot—"Tristans, Isolde, _fire!_"

The _Minerva_'s guns roared, but Meyrin blinked in disbelief as the _Bonaparte_ veered to the right, letting the shots plow uselessly into the ground. The land-ship's two stern-mounted Gottfrieds swiveled around, leveling themselves off at the ship—

"Pull up!"

The _Minerva_ groaned in protest as it rose into the air, just as the _Bonaparte_ fired and sent a volley of beams searing by underneath the winged warship. Meyrin eyed the _Bonaparte_ in frustration as the _Minerva_ leveled out.

"They don't have a blind spot where the guns can't cover them," she murmured. "But we have to do something..."

—

The Legend spiraled elegantly through the air, dodging the beam rifle shots of a squad of Jet Dark Windams and returning fire with its beam rifle. The Windams pulled back behind their shields, releasing a volley of missiles—Rau cackled and tore them from the sky with a CIWS burst.

He risked a glance across the battlefield, finding the Twilight in battle with the Strike. "_Minerva_, this is Legend," he said, ducking behind his beam shield as the Windams returned fire. "I do not believe we will be able to capture the Strike."

"Wha—why not?" Meyrin sputtered. "We've only just started."

"The Strike is currently fighting the Twilight," Rau explained. "Perhaps Emily is unaware of some of the realities of an Extended." He paused, ducking beneath the Windams' blasts, and snapped his rifle into position to shoot one of them down. "Needless to say, Emily would likely have to incapacitate the Strike to bring its pilot in."

"If that's the case, then we should pull back," Abbey said. "There's no sense risking ourselves in this battle if we don't have to."

Meyrin narrowed her eyes at the _Bonaparte_ up ahead. "That's not good enough," she answered. "Continue attacking the enemy land-ship!"

—

"Merely against these things," Shinn growled, as the Destiny danced effortlessly between the beam blasts of the Windam squad, "_I can't fail!_"

The Destiny whirled around as one of the Windams came in for the kill, seizing the Windam's arm with its left hand and blowing its arm off with a palm cannon strike. The Windam staggered back, smoke pouring from the stump of its right arm, and before it or its comrades could act, Shinn drilled a beam rifle shot through the Windam's cockpit.

"Where is that guy?" Stella snapped, as the Gaia Gundam deflected a wave of beam shots with its shield and fired back. "He hurt Emily!"

"He'll have to come back," Shinn said, "because we'll tear down his troops _right here!_"

The Destiny charged, brandishing its sword, and brought it down with a crash onto the second Windam's shield, throwing it back. Shinn surged forward, and the Windam desperately parried the Destiny's blow with a beam saber, pushing back with all the thrust the Jet Striker could provide to keep its balance.

The Gaia lunged forward, deflecting more blasts with its shield, and snapped a beam saber from its waist armor to rip apart a Windam's beam rifle. The Windam backed away, reaching for its own saber, but too late as the Gaia rammed its blade into the Windam's cockpit.

"They hurt Emily," Stella growled, "so they're gonna pay!"

—

The Twilight went tumbling towards the ground, beam shield shimmering, as the Aile Strike E charged with beam saber drawn. Emily struggled to regain her balance, and threw her saber up to block the Aile Strike's finishing blow.

"This kind of fighting..." Emily murmured. "Why are you fighting like this?"

The Strike E lunged forward, throwing the Twilight back and pulling its saber back for a killing stab. Emily swung her own saber down to spoil the blow, parrying the Strike E's blow and sending both sabers sailing wide of their targets.

"I'm an Extended!" Kyali shot back. "If I'm separated from that guy for too long, my body starts shutting down and _I'll die!_"

"What?" Emily cried. "You'll die?"

"That's why I didn't go with you!" Kyali shouted, tears in her eyes as she brought the saber down again, crashing against the Twilight's beam shield. "That's why I stay here! That's why I let them _do this to me!_" The Strike E surged forward again, sending the Twilight reeling. "_And that's why I saved you!_"

"Kyali..." Emily murmured, struggling to maintain control. The Strike E came down with a saber swipe—the Twilight somersaulted over its head, whirling around, only to find the Strike E there again to slam its saber down onto the Twilight's blade. "It doesn't have to be like this! You can leave!"

"And just die on the _Minerva!_" Kyali cried. The Strike E charged again—the Twilight swung its own saber up to block the Strike E's blow, leaving the two Gundams locked together in midair. "I saved you so that you wouldn't wind up like me!" Emily felt her stomach churn as Kyali's eyes flashed. "_So kill me!_"

"_Kill _you?" Emily wailed, eyes wide. "What—Kyali, I can't—!"

The Strike E roared forward, pushing the Twilight back. "That would be better than going back to those guys to abuse me again!" The Strike E slammed the Twilight back with a kick to the chest. "You don't understand what it's like to be thrown to the ground and _used like a goddamn machine!_"

Emily grunted as she fired the Twilight's thrusters, stopping her descent and swinging forward to stop the Strike E's finishing blow. "Yes I do!" she cried. "I felt it while it happened to you, and all I could do was lie there and suffer while I felt you suffering beyond the horizon!" She looked up painfully at Kyali's angry face. "That's why I came here to save you! So that it won't happen again!"

"_Then kill me!_" Kyali screamed, charging again. "Kill me and you'll _set me free!_"

—

The beam boomerangs exploded as Auel's Abyss Gundam blew them out of the sky with a beam cannon volley, but the Sword Calamity lunged from the smoke with its two rifles in hand, spewing beams at the Abyss and forcing it back behind its shoulder shells. The Chaos slid in from the side, beam rifle leveled off, but the Sword Calamity leapt off its sub-wing unit, somersaulting in midair and dodging the blasts before landing back on the sub-wing and returning fire.

"This guy's good!" Sting growled, deflecting the return fire with his shield. "Auel, that sub-wing needs to go!"

"This whole damn things need to go!" Auel snapped—the Abyss charged, lance drawn back for a killing blow and smacking aside the Sword Calamity's blasts with its shoulder shells. The Sword Calamity backed away as the Abyss brought its lance down, and hurled its right-hand rifle at the Abyss. Auel hacked it in two with his lance, only to find the Sword Calamity charging with sword in hand, smashing the sword down onto the Abyss's right-hand shoulder shell. "Dammit!"

"You're mine now!" Sting cried, as the Chaos came down with a volley of beam shots that blew away the Sword Calamity's remaining rifle. Inside the Sword Calamity, Hayden bit back a curse and jetted backwards, just as the Chaos dropped into his line of fire.

"You'll have to die at some point!" Hayden screamed, charging forward with an Armor Schneider in hand and slamming it down into the Chaos's shield.

"An Armor Schneider?" Sting exclaimed. "Is this guy nuts?"

"_He's dead!_" Auel screamed, lunging up over the Chaos for a point-blank Callidus blast. The Sword Calamity lunged aside, smashing the Chaos back with its sub-wing in the process and letting the blast sear by.

"That's not gonna trick me," Hayden snarled. "I'll stop you both!"

—

The Gaia stormed through the last Windam's desperate beam rifle volley, smacking the shots aside with its shield and bringing its saber down in a powerful vertical sweep that tore the Windam's rifle in two. Stella charged with a scream, saber drawn back for a killing slash, and pounded it against the Windam's own saber. The black Phantom Pain machine went staggering back from the blow—Stella saw her chance, roaring forward and plunging her saber into the Windam's cockpit, before kicking the maimed mobile suit towards the ground.

"That one's gone," she murmured, glancing across the battlefield. "Shinn!"

The Destiny sailed through the air, beam wings shimmering and afterimages flashing across the sky as it roared towards the beleaguered remaining Windam. The Windam opened fire, but its shots passed through empty afterimages, and with a bone-jarring shriek of shredded metal, the Destiny tore the Windam in two with its anti-ship sword.

"The Aegis has to be around here somewhere," Shinn said, as the Destiny deactivated its sword and switched back to its beam rifle. "It must have gone back to the land-ship for new equipment."

The two Gundams glanced aside as a wave of beam blasts shot across the battlefield. A trio of black Windams, all sporting some manner of damage, came streaking towards the Destiny and Gaia, with the Legend Gundam in hot pursuit.

"Fine day for a battle, don't you think?" Rau chuckled, picking off a Windam with his rifle. "I do not believe young Emily is faring well in her quest to capture that Extended."

Shinn leveled off his beam rifle and shot down the second Windam, while the Gaia blasted the third out of the sky. "If we take out the support," Shinn said, glaring, "that Extended won't have any choice."

"Indeed," Rau agreed, "but penetrating that land-ship's defensive fire will be a daunting task."

Shinn turned his burning crimson eyes towards the _Bonaparte_. "Just watch us. Stella, let's go!"

—

"I'll send you Phantom Pain bastards to hell myself!" Viveka screamed, as the Savior Gundam tore through the air in mobile armor mode. "You won't lay a finger on my sister again!"

The Savior let loose a withering barrage of beam cannon blasts on a quartet of Windams, taking cover behind their shields and firing back with their rifles. The Savior darted elegantly through their blasts, reverting to mobile suit mode to return fire. The Windams backed away again, as a wave of beam blasts came streaking down from the heavens, and the Infinite Justice entered the fray with a rifle salvo.

"Don't let your anger cloud your judgment," Athrun warned, deflecting the Windams' return fire with his beam shield and taking off again. "I made that mistake."

Viveka shook her head. "Right." The Savior took off again, dodging fire from the Windams and squeezing off a beam rifle shot that pounded against the leader's shield. Athrun dropped in front of it and speared the Windam through the torso on a beam rifle shot, backing away as it exploded and the remaining Windams attacked.

"The more of these we destroy, the more of us will be able to go help Emily," Athrun grunted. The Infinite Justice fired back with its rifle, scattering the Windams.

"Then let's get rid of them!" snapped Viveka, charging at the first Windam in front of her and drawing her saber. Before it could react, she cut its rifle in two—the Windam backed away, dodging her second saber swipe and drawing its own saber. The Windam brought its blade down on the Savior's shield—Viveka surged forward with a scream, thrusting her shield skyward and sending the Windam's saber arm wide, and then slashing the Windam in two at the waist with her saber.

Up above, the Infinite Justice effortlessly danced through the beam rifle fire of the remaining two Windams, ducking behind the first one. Athrun narrowed his eyes, firing his Grapple Stinger and lodging it into the Windam's back. The Justice whirled around, dragging the Windam with it and smashing the Phantom Pain machine into its comrade. The two Windams went sprawling—Athrun leveled off his rifle and fired at them both, drilling a shot through both and blowing them apart.

"Wow," Viveka's voice put in, as the Savior approached. "That was pretty fancy."

"All in a day's work as far as I'm concerned," Athrun said, as the Grapple Stinger retracted back to its proper place. "There's another squad incoming! Let's go!"

—

"I'm not going to kill you!" Emily screamed, as the Twilight blocked another furious saber stroke from the Aile Strike E. "There are other Extended on the _Minerva!_ They escaped the Alliance! You can do it too!"

The Strike E pounded the Twilight back with a punishing kick to the chest. "Don't make me kill you, Emily!" Kyali shrieked. "_I'm not like them!_"

Emily blinked in surprise as she regained her balance, just in time to deflect another saber swing. "You know about them...?"

"Sting Oakley, Auel Neider, Stella Loussier!" Kyali snapped. "They told me if I did as they did, then I would..." She shook her head, unable to finish. "I don't want to kill you, Emily, but as long as you're on this battlefield, _I have to!_"

"Kyali..." Emily murmured, stopped as the Strike E rammed the Twilight with its shield and followed up with a devastating saber stroke that the Twilight's blade barely blocked.

"I don't wanna wake up every morning to _that guy_ looming over me, and remember that I had to kill the only person who was ever nice to me!" Kyali screamed. "Don't make me do that! _Kill me first!_"

"Kyali!"

The Strike E backed away. "_Bonaparte,_ this is Kyali! Send me the Schwert Gewehr!" Kyali charged again, saber held high, slamming it down onto the Twilight's saber. "You can't save me, Emily! You never could!"

Emily's eyes flashed. "_Stop it!_"

The Twilight surged forward, beam wings flashing to life, pushing the Strike E back. Kyali blinked in disbelief as her Gundam went reeling.

"I'm not going to kill you!" Emily cried. "I'm not going to let myself live with the knowledge that you saved my life and I didn't give you a chance to escape these monsters in the Phantom Pain! You're coming with me, and if I have to tear that cockpit open to do it, then _so be it!_" The Twilight charged. "_But don't tell me to abandon a friend!_"

The Strike E quaked as the Twilight slammed its saber down onto its foe's red shield, forcing it back. The Strike E kicked back off the Twilight's chest, backflipping away and stashing its saber back on the Aile pack. A Skygrasper roared through the air, ejecting the massive Schwert Gewehr anti-ship sword from under its wing. The Strike E seized the enormous blade, igniting it with a flash and bringing it down hard on the Twilight's arm, shattering its solid shield.

"You can't save me," Kyali cried, "you're too late! So don't make me suffer anymore! Kill me, Emily!"

Up above, equipped with a replacement shield and beam rifle, Harris watched the battle grimly.

—

The Abyss rattled as the Sword Calamity brought its swords with a crash against the Abyss's lance, driving the Gundam back. Auel grunted and fired a point-blank cannon blast into the Sword Calamity's face, sending it staggering for distance.

"You can't punch through the Trans Phase with that!" Hayden snapped, lunging out of the smoke. The Sword Calamity lunged forward, extending its right-hand sword—

A blast of fire ripped up through the air, and Hayden looked down in shock as his sub-wing unit exploded. He glanced to the side—the Chaos Gundam was there, beam rifle raised triumphantly. With a crash, the Abyss sliced off the Sword Calamity's right arm with its lance, and sent Hayden tumbling down to the ground with a devastating kick to the back.

"Shit!" Hayden snarled—the Sword Calamity fired its thrusters, angling back for the _Bonaparte_.

"That takes care of him," Sting said grimly, floating down next to the Abyss.

"Do we go for the kill?" Auel asked, watching the Sword Calamity impatiently.

"No time," Sting said quickly. "Emily needs our help. Let's go!"

—

Charging forward with a wake of shimmering afterimages, Shinn narrowed his eyes at the fast-approaching Rosso Aegis.

"So you finally came back!" he snapped, opening fire with his beam rifle. The Rosso Aegis ducked aside from his shots, firing back. Shinn whirled around, but a moment later, a squad of Windams were there to stop him in his tracks. He drew the Destiny's anti-ship sword, swinging it swiftly at the black Phantom Pain mobile suits, but they ducked backward to avoid his furious swipe. "Dammit, get out of my way!"

The Windams scattered as a wave of beam shots coursed across the battlefield, and with a crash, the Chaos and Abyss Gundams pounded their way onto the battlefield. Shinn stormed forward, sword held high, and slammed it down onto the first Windam's shield, crashing through and tearing the Windam's arm off. The Phantom Pain mobile suit staggered back—the Destiny charged, stabbing the Windam through the cockpit with a bone-jarring crunch.

"We still have to catch up to the Aegis," Sting put in, as the Chaos deflected a volley of beam shots, charged towards one of the Windams, and speared it on a beam rifle shot.

A third Windam went down in flames to a beam barrage from the Abyss, and Auel hefted his lance, scanning the battlefield for more enemies. "Hell if I'm letting him get away!" he snapped. "Nobody abuses an Extended like that and gets away with it!"

Shinn smacked aside the fourth Windam's desperate beam rifle blasts and put his sword through its torso, tossing the ruined mobile suit away as it exploded. "There's something wrong here..."

—

"Colonel," Tupolev's voice warned inside the Rosso Aegis's cockpit, "we've reached our limit."

"I just need a little more time to destroy the Twilight," Harris answered. "Somehow they have to pay for this."

Down below, the Aile Strike E charged after the Twilight, with huge sweeping swings of its anti-ship sword. Emily ducked beneath one swipe and somersaulted over another, desperately looking for an opening.

"Don't make me do this," Kyali pleaded. "Don't make me live like this! You beat me once before! Now do it again!"

"Not if I can still save you!" Emily protested.

"You can't!" Kyali screamed. "_Now kill me!_"

The Strike E smashed its sword down onto the Twilight's saber. Emily grunted, kicking forward with the Twilight's right leg and sending the Strike E's shield spiraling out of the sky. The Strike E blasted forward with its Aile pack, using its sword to hurl the Twilight away with sheer momentum.

"If I went with you," Kyali sobbed, "then..._then I'll disappear!_"

The Strike E charged, sword upraised.

The seed burst before Emily's eyes, flooding her consciousness and sending a surge of power shooting up her spine. With a flash, the Twilight jammed its left hand forward, deploying its beam shield and stopping the Strike E's sword slash cold, both Gundams rattling. As the Strike E struggled to lift its sword back up, Emily surged forward with a scream, and the Strike E shook as the Twilight slashed off the Strike E's right arm, sending its arm and sword spiraling towards the earth. With another crash, the Twilight slammed its saber down into the Aile pack, blowing it apart—and finally, the Strike E rocked as the Twilight seized the maimed white mobile suit by its remaining left arm, holding it up in midair by the arm. Kyali looked up in disbelief at the victorious Gundam, its sky-blue eyes flashing triumphantly.

"You won't disappear!" Emily shouted, eyes flashing angrily. Kyali blinked in surprise. "You won't! I'll be there! I'll save you, I promise!"

"I...I won't...disappear...?" she whispered brokenly.

"You won't be alone," Emily said. "I won't let you disappear. I'll save you. I'll find you. I'll be with you. But you'll never disappear."

"E-Emily..." Kyali started.

The sky split with the roar of engines—Emily and Kyali looked over in surprise—

"You've outlived your usefulness, Kyali!"

With a blood-curdling shriek of twisting metal, the Rosso Aegis leapt into view and slammed its saber through the Strike E's cockpit. Emily's eyes went wide in horror as the light from inside the broken Strike E went out, and the Rosso Aegis withdrew its saber and pulled away from the sparking, ruined machine. It erupted into a thundering fireball, and the Twilight went hurtling back from the force of the explosion.

Emily stared in horror as she felt Kyali disappear.

—

To be continued...


	17. Phase 17: Sixteen Year Olds of War

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 17 - Sixteen-Year-Olds of War

—

**March 6th, CE 77 - Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The Twilight Gundam slammed down onto the ground with a crash as the Alliance mobile suits made good their escape, sinking to one knee as the cockpit hatch swung open. The pilot descended to earth on the zip line, leaping down into the snow and rushing towards the burning wreckage of the Strike E.

Emily von Oldendorf stared in shock into the gaping, smoldering hole that was once the Strike E's cockpit. Kyali had been there, only moments ago, on the cusp of surrender, an inch away from being saved...and then—

She fell to her knees and sobbed.

Nearby, the Destiny Gundam landed as softly as a mobile suit could. Shinn watched Emily crying in the snow, heedless of the biting cold and the snow collecting on her back. That was where Kyali and Emily had met—in the cold, in the snow.

The emotions were too intense—he looked away, struggling to keep himself steady by the pulsing point of agony. He felt his own agony again, standing in the snow, crying and screaming over lost friends—lost friends that his power had been unable to save. It was a pain he had struggled to save Emily from—but once again, he had failed.

"That's another promise I couldn't keep," he said, closing his eyes. "What good are these powers...?"

He glanced up into the sky, where the Alliance mobile suits were in full retreat, and the demoralized _Minerva_ seemed to be in no hurry to stop them. He looked back down at Emily, and opened the Destiny's cockpit hatch. The cold was there to greet him like a slap to the face, but he ignored it as he activated the zip line.

The memories were all too painful as he approached the sobbing girl in the snow. He saw visions of himself in Antarctica, on the bloody first day of Cosmic Era 74, on his knees before the wreckage of the _Kasselheim_. He shook his head—Stella had been the one to give him the strength he needed to leave their graves and escape the battlefield. Now it was his turn to be strong.

Shinn said nothing as he pulled Emily up by the shoulders and guided her towards the Destiny.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

Harris Meyers landed with a thud on the gantry next to the silent Rosso Aegis, as the _Bonaparte_ wrenched its way forward through the snow. Tupolev was there to greet him with a grim salute.

"What a failure," Harris growled, not bothering to return the gesture. "We lost more mobile suits and we couldn't even scratch those damned Gundams." He glanced up bitterly at the Rosso Aegis. "It doesn't really matter if I survive encounters with the _Minerva_ if I've got nothing but my survival to show for it."

"Now that you've had to sacrifice Kyali, what will you do?" Tupolev asked. "We're still out of range of Moscow."

"Dammit, we should have gone west from Murmansk and not south," Harris grumbled. "There are bases in Scandinavia that could have helped us. Maybe even Svalbard."

"It's too late for that now, sir," Tupolev put in, as the two officers headed down the gantry while the mechanics took over around the Rosso Aegis. "I think it's safe to say that the Twilight's pilot had an attachment of some kind to Kyali. It's likely they'll return for revenge."

Harris heaved a sigh. "The _Minerva_ would not be above that," he agreed. "We'll have to play defense."

"But sir," Tupolev continued, "without Kyali and without the mobile suits we've lost in prior engagements, our fighting strength is considerably lower."

"I don't need Kyali to beat the _Minerva_," Harris snapped. "I'll launch personally when they attack again. For now, pull us back and give priority to the mobile suit repairs."

"Yes sir."

—

Gregory Hayden emerged from the cockpit of the Sword Calamity with his helmet in his hand, yanking open the collar of his black Phantom Pain flight suit with an airy sigh. Another battle behind him—another failure to defeat the Chaos and Abyss. He glanced around the hangar, noticing that there were fewer and fewer of the familiar black Dark Windams.

But the Strike E was missing.

Hayden glanced over at the approaching mechanic. "Has the Strike E come back yet?"

"Oh, it's not coming back, sergeant," the mechanic answered with a shrug. "The Twilight had it on the ropes, so the colonel shot it down to keep it from being captured."

Hayden blinked in disbelief, almost letting his helmet slip from his grasp. "Shot it down? You mean he killed the Extended?"

"Well, yeah," the mechanic answered, shrugging again. "I don't know of anyone who's survived a beam saber through the cockpit, so yeah, she's probably dead." He glanced towards the Strike E's empty spot in the hangar. "Bummer, too. Once you had her held down, she gave pretty good head—"

Hayden rushed past the mechanic, eyes wide, struggling to ignore the feeling of horror welling up in his stomach. His memory shot back in time to an incident wherein a female Earth Alliance soldier had been captured by a cell with the Resistance, and horribly abused, and left for dead. When she was rescued, Hayden had watched the live news coverage—and her empty, lightless eyes still burned holes into his soul. That had been the final straw that had compelled him to join the Phantom Pain, to rid the world of such evils, to ensure that nobody else would have eyes like that.

Now he saw that soldier again, with the dull eyes, the empty shell of flesh robbed of humanity and spirit. But this time, her captors wore not the fatigues and robes and coats of the Resistance, but the terrifying black uniforms of the Phantom Pain.

_He who fights with monsters,_ Hayden remembered brokenly, _should look to it that he himself does not become a monster..._

Hayden forced down his tears.

_I'm not a monster. I'm a good soldier. I obey my commander. I fight my enemies. I protect my homeland. I'm not a monster! I—_

He looked back up at the empty spot where the Strike E had been, and remembered the rest of the quote.

_...and when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you._

He squeezed the tears back again.

_I'm not a monster!_

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"People die in every war," Rau observed quietly as he guided the Legend back into its hangar brace on the _Minerva_. "And no one knows how to stop it." He shrugged, as the Legend shuddered and fell into place. "It never ceases to amaze me how these people can suffer so much and still be so blind to the truth that makes them suffer."

On the gantry, nobody had the voice to speak as Shinn emerged from the Destiny with a sobbing Emily in his arms. Viveka was there almost instantly, but could only look down helplessly at her sister.

"Is there something I can do...?" she started.

"I'll take her back to her room," Shinn answered. "I think we'll just have to leave her alone."

Emily could do nothing but sob as Shinn pulled her away. On the gantry, Athrun stepped up next to Viveka, glancing over at Abes as he watched Shinn and Emily disappear around a corner.

"I guess we shouldn't be too surprised," Abes said quietly. "The Extended are valuable to the Alliance. They wouldn't let us capture one without a fight."

"Shinn brought her in so he could protect her from her powers," Athrun murmured. "But..."

"It's not Shinn's fault," Viveka insisted. She shook her head. "It's the Phantom Pain."

In the bowels of the ship, Shinn arrived at Emily's door with the sobbing Twilight pilot in his arms. Although he knew that right now there were more important things to do, somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt a touch of awkwardness as he carried Emily into her darkened room, helpless and limp. Trying to turn the light on was an impossible task, and the door slid shut behind him, so he tried to put her down on what he presumed was her bed as gently as possible.

His own failures were there in Emily's broken, shimmering eyes as she looked up desolately at the Newtype ace, grabbing his sleeve hopelessly.

"Don't..." she whispered, tears streaming down her face. "Don't...leave me alone..."

"Emily—" Shinn began.

"I just don't want to be alone!" Emily wailed, and buried her face in Shinn's chest. "I...I failed her!"

Shinn crushed his memories and ignored his own voice echoing in his ears, putting his arms around the brokenhearted Gundam pilot and letting her cry herself to sleep.

—

Normally, Meyrin noted as the _Minerva_'s bridge slid back up into its usual, brightly lit position, it was more lively up here. The typical condition of the _Minerva_'s bridge was an exhibition of the crew's multitasking skills, in which Roxy would have struck up a conversation with Burt and whoever else was around. But this time the bridge was silent, save for the sounds of the bridge equipment and the dim humming of the _Minerva_'s engines.

"Well," Roxy said quietly, staring down at her console, "that didn't go very well, did it?"

Abbey leaned back against the back of Roxy's seat. "We destroyed a number of their mobile suits," she said. "And we've collected data on their expertise at maneuvering a land-ship in combat. Their fighting strength will be diminished in the next engagement."

"But that's not what we came here to do," Meyrin said.

Abbey glanced down at the floor. "No," she agreed, "it's not."

Meyrin sat back, trying to push out the emotions. She was the captain, after all—and while her pilots might be busy feeling sorry for themselves, she could not, because all eyes turned to her for decisions. Their plan to capture the enemy's Extended had failed, but the Phantom Pain would still have to answer for what they had done.

"We're still gonna attack, right?" Roxy asked, looking up.

"We don't necessarily need to—" Abbey began.

"We're the _Minerva_," Meyrin interrupted. "If we're the bringers of justice that everyone says we are, I'd say that land-ship deserves to be brought some justice." She narrowed her eyes at the deep tracks in the snow below. "I don't believe anyone would forgive them."

"Forgiving them is God's job," Burt spoke up from the sensor console. "But I wouldn't mind arranging the meeting."

"Then how do you intend to destroy them?" Abbey asked.

Meyrin followed the tracks towards the horizon. "We'll come up with something," she said. "But as for the Aegis...I'll leave that to Emily."

—

The crew lounge was quiet as Athrun emerged and headed towards the vending machine. That was not much of a surprise, however—this ship had recently rescued a pilot from the torture chambers of the Phantom Pain, only to watch the soldier who had facilitated that rescue get gunned down by her commander. It was hard to feel cheerful under such circumstances.

Sting and Auel were slumped on opposite sides of one of the couches, staring blankly at the ceiling. Even to Athrun's senses, he could tell that they were taking the Strike E's destruction hard—knowing that it was one of their own who had been in the cockpit, treated and killed so ruthlessly. Three years after meeting them, he still had only an incomplete picture of their pasts—but they did not seem inclined to share, and so Athrun made no attempt to pry.

He cracked open his soda with a sigh. Auel glanced up at him.

"Is that what was supposed to happen to us?" he asked suddenly, drawing looks from Athrun and Sting. "Fight on the battlefield until we stop being useful, then get killed?"

Athrun took a measured sip of soda. "The Alliance doesn't view its Extended the way it views even its regular soldiers," he said. "To them, you guys aren't much more than parts of the mobile suits they give you."

Sting's eyes darkened. "Neo would've done it," he muttered. "If he had judged us as impediments to Lord Djibril or his little 'revenge on the Coordinators' plan, he would've killed us without a second thought. He tried to kill Stella more than once."

"But Stella had already deserted," Auel said. "I meant before that..."

"He would've done it anyway," Sting answered. He glanced up at Athrun. "I guess it's not something you could understand if you're not an Extended."

"It is," Athrun said darkly, as the memories returned of his father, standing above him with handgun in hand, demanding to know the whereabouts of the Justice and Freedom, after already putting one bloody hole in his son's shoulder and threatening to do it again. "My father would have killed me if he'd had the chance."

"Your father?" Sting echoed. "Why?"

"I was in ZAFT, and my father was the chairman of the National Defense Council," Athrun explained. "Eventually he became Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council. He sent me to track down the Freedom, using the Freedom's sister unit, the Justice. I decided that I couldn't kill people on the battlefield just because he told me to, but I tried to go back and reason with him anyway. He was beyond reason. He shot me." He glanced back at Sting and Auel. "So I can understand how you feel."

"Harsh," Auel said.

"On the other hand," Athrun went on, "since we all know how it feels to be shot at because someone doesn't find you useful anymore..." He glanced back at the two Extended. "Then we should have no problems in the next battle."

—

_"Newtypes can transcend violence and bloodshed; they can transcend war," the silken voice of Gilbert Dullindal said. "We cannot bring back those already dead, but we owe it to ourselves, and to our children, and to the children yet unborn, to strive towards this ideal."_

_The voice mocked her. It reached her ears from the void, an empty plane of suffering and darkness. Was that what it meant to be a Newtype? To suffer, and know only suffering, buttressed by the bitter sting of failure to use those powers that could be at once so formidable and so helpless?_

_ Emily stared forward emptily, even though there was nothing at which to stare. The voice of the Chairman of the PLANTs still rang in her ears—mocking her with higher ideals and transcending human suffering and power and protection and understanding. The abilities of a Newtype had given her only power—and what good was that power if it was useless to protect people? She was supposed to see the future, but the future had eluded her. Was it her fault, for not seeing it?_

_ "I guess our little friendship caused some problems after all," another voice added. "I'm sorry." Emily looked around, and felt hands on her own, as Kyali Sekar's voice drowned out the platitudes of Gilbert Dullindal. _

_ "I-I couldn't save you..." Emily started, her eyes welling up with tears again._

_ "Oh, I dunno," Kyali's voice answered. "You were nice to me. And because you were nice to me, it made me do the right thing and rescue you from those guards. I dunno if I would have done that before I met you. So don't feel too bad."_

_ "That's not what I wanted to do," Emily protested. "I wanted to use my power..."_

_ "Well, now I'm finally free," Kyali said. "So thank you, Emily."_

_ Emily looked around, as the image of the man that had wrought this on them both flashed into her mind, and her blood ran hot. "I...I'll kill him, Kyali! I won't let him get away with this! I can still do that! I promise!"_

_ "Don't beat yourself up over it—" Kyali started._

_ "No! I...how can I sleep at night knowing that I let him get away? I'll avenge you! My power can still let me do that!"_

_ Kyali heaved a sigh, and Emily felt the hands leave hers. "Well, if you insist," she said. "I'm glad I met you...but Shinn will protect you now."_

_ "Kyali...!" Emily began_.

The empty realm of suffering melted away, and Emily awoke to find herself in the arms of the man Kyali had said would be her protector. She looked up with a blush, finding Shinn Asuka there, watching her carefully.

"Wha—Shinn!" Emily exclaimed, scuttling out of his arms. "Were you—what are you doing here?"

Shinn straightened out his coat. "You asked me to stay," he said. "You didn't want to be alone."

The memory trickled back, and Emily suddenly found herself grateful that it was too dark to see her face. "S-Sorry..."

"You reminded me a lot of myself," Shinn continued, shaking his head. "But..." He shook his head. "Will you be well enough to fight?"

Emily nodded. "I...I want to fight," she said. "I don't want my power to be useless."

Shinn smiled bitterly. "Then we'll leave the Aegis to you," he said, "and you can do what you have to."

—

**March 7th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

Morning had broken, and the _Minerva_ was abuzz with battle preparations. In the hangar, the mechanics were hard at work on the ship's complement of mobile suits, going so far as to crack open a container of spare mobile suit weapons, including armaments that Emily had never seen before—armaments that Shinn immediately began lecturing her about. For now, Shinn had disappeared to work on the Destiny, leaving Emily standing before the silent Twilight, with Viveka at her side.

The Twilight was being fitted with a massive cannon that Shinn had identified as the "Barrus" heavy particle cannon. What Emily took it to be was a giant bazooka that fired a big beam. Shinn had provided a more technical definition, but Emily could already guess that in the middle of battle, all she would care about would be the giant beam it could fire. And that was good enough.

"You sure you don't want any help out there?" Viveka asked.

"I'm sure," Emily answered, staring up determinedly into the silent eyes of her Gundam.

"Athrun will be okay without me to baby-sit him," Viveka continued. "But if you say so..."

"I promised Kyali that I would take that guy down and make him pay," Emily answered. "So I have to fight him."

"I know, but he was good enough to capture you the first time and start this whole mess."

"He won't."

Viveka said no more, looking back up at the Twilight. Emily crossed her arms, trying to think of a plan. Her combat footage was still relatively embarrassing—and that was against a conflicted pilot who was literally asking to be shot down. If she was going to defeat the Rosso Aegis, she would need to be smarter on the battlefield—and that meant she'd have to trip up a Phantom Pain pilot.

She sat back to think, but could only remember his haunting words.

—

Shinn looked up sadly at the dark eyes of the Destiny as he loaded the CIWS guns. Stella was by his side, watching him silently.

"Is Shinn okay...?" she started.

Shinn sighed. "Emily shouldn't forgive me," he said. "After all that's happened to her...I'm no better than that Phantom Pain guy."

"But Shinn's not scary," Stella protested.

"I dragged her into this war and now look what's happened," Shinn went on. "What kind of person am I?"

Stella wrapped her arms lovingly around Shinn. "Shinn is protecting his friends," she said, "like he always does."

Shinn smiled sadly and tried to believe her.

—

Frustration was not an emotion foreign to the mind of Rau Le Creuset. When one's own body was slowly decaying thanks to the defective cloning process that left his DNA missing forty years' worth of telomeres, frustration was an understatement to describe the feeling of helplessness. And when one's own mortal coil was rotting away, it was hard to get irritated by much else.

As such, Rau Le Creuset could not properly describe himself as frustrated by the almost entirely blank file before him—but he was certainly annoyed. It was his custom, when plying the databases of the world's knowledge, to accumulate those facts and figures in the form of notes in a blank word processor file—and right now, with hours' worth of research on the person of Lorelei von Oldendorf, that file was looking as blank now as when he had first started it.

The picture was sparse, but it was a start. Lorelei von Oldendorf, Rau concluded, had spent her unfortunately short life in poor health. Married off to Gerhardt while still young, despite her illness she had two children. And that struck Rau as odd, because even in a Cosmic Era where medical science had all but eradicated the notion of disease from the face of the planet, it was strange for someone with health so poor to be bearing children. Pregnancy remained stressful—and, as Rau noticed from his notes on sisters Viveka and Emily, the two had been born four years apart. Unless one or the other or both were unintended children, it meant they had been forced to wait four years for Lorelei to be healthy enough to carry a child again. And Lorelei had died when Emily was seven years old.

Rau sat back in his chair, thinking. Emily was the child who exhibited the stunning powers of a Newtype. Although an impressive pilot in her own right, Viveka was of ordinary Natural stock. She had been born first, the Newtype girl second—what did that mean? Surely it meant something. Rau Le Creuset would dismiss nothing until it had proven itself to lead nowhere possibly useful.

Emily was the second-born to a woman in no physical condition to be bearing children; Emily was the Newtype; Emily was the one to be shipped off to Lord Djibril...surely this was all connected somehow. But how was the question.

Rau smiled as he felt a spike of anger from somewhere on the ship. Emily was angry. Emily would join the attack on the enemy land-ship, and destroy the Rosso Aegis or die trying. And that, Rau supposed, was where he would see her true abilities.

And nothing was more fun than getting to the truth.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"Receiving a transmission, sir," the comm officer reported. Tupolev and Harris looked up from a sprawling digital map of northwestern Russia, and saluted as the grizzled face of Captain Ivan Danilov.

"Colonel Meyers," Danilov said, returning their salutes. "I hear you've been tangoing with the _Minerva_."

"'Tangoing' would be putting it charitably, Captain," Harris said grimly. "They have cost me numerous pilots, as well as my Extended test subject."

Danilov seemed to flinch at the mention of the Extended, but Harris ignored it. "So I've been told," the _Charlemagne_'s captain answered. "Our repairs are finally complete, and we've just launched from the Vilnius base. We're doing a full burn to reach your location."

Harris glanced at Tupolev, who shook his head somberly. "We're expecting an attack within the next twenty-four hours," Harris said. "We managed to capture one of the _Minerva_'s pilots, but she escaped with the help of my Extended subject. In a subsequent battle, the Extended was killed."

"I've been briefed already," Danilov answered. "Emily von Oldendorf, and the Twilight Gundam...to think a teenage girl with no experience shot down the Sky Samurai." He shook his head. "Approximate ETA is within the next thirty hours. I realize that leaves you vulnerable, but do your best to approach the Baltic borders and get closer into our range, so we can support you."

Harris narrowed his eyes. "Captain, we are soldiers of the Phantom Pain," he said. "We will not run from the _Minerva_, not least of all because that little girl in the Twilight destroyed our Extended."

Danilov sighed. "At least hold out long enough for us to arrive, then," he said. "The _Charlemagne_'s mission is to destroy the _Minerva_. If this next battle will be their last, it is only fitting for us to have a role."

"We shall see," Harris said darkly.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The mobile suit pilots stood arrayed around the mapping console on the bridge, with Meyrin standing in front of them, over an elaborate digital map of the northern coast of Lake Ladoga. Everyone with Newtype powers to sense it could detect the anger and determination rising from Emily, who stood with arms crossed over the display, looking as though she wanted nothing more than to climb into the Twilight and tear the sky in two.

"The enemy land-ship is trying to turn towards the west," Meyrin began. "At the same time, a guerrilla unit in Vilnius indicates that the _Charlemagne_'s repairs are complete and the ship is on its way here to support the enemy land-ship. We didn't fare too well against them in our last showdown, so it would be in our best interest to avoid another such battle." She pointed down at the map, at the blinking icons representing the _Minerva_ and its ground-borne foe. "If we attack now, we can force them off course and push them up against the lake. Once we hit the shore of the lake, they'll have nowhere to go." She glanced up at Rau, Athrun, and Shinn, as though seeking validation, and Shinn nodded almost imperceptibly. "Athrun, Viveka, and Rau will focus on defending the _Minerva_. Sting, Auel, Shinn, and Stella will attack the land-ship's remaining mobile suits." Meyrin glanced surreptitiously at the remaining pilot. "And Emily will engage the Aegis."

"Just be careful," Viveka warned. "He captured you once already."

Shinn's eyes darkened—once again with experience, Meyrin guessed. "Don't let your anger deceive you into doing something stupid," he added.

Meyrin shut the mapping console off, pushing down the rising maternal instinct to protect her crew. One of their own had been stolen and made to suffer. She knew this was the course that Talia would have taken—no black-coated murderers of the Phantom Pain would see the sunset today without knowing the wrath of the _Minerva_.

"We need to attack now in order to force them off course and into the lake," Abbey spoke up. "Captain, we should get going."

"I agree," Meyrin said. "Pilots, prepare to launch. Roxy, shield the bridge and issue Condition Red." She hopped down into the captain's chair as the pilots filed off the bridge. _You Phantom Pain barbarians are not torturing any of my crew ever again._

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_**, Lake Ladoga, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"So there they are," Harris muttered, sitting back in the cockpit of his Rosso Aegis as its Phase Shift flashed to life. "Tupolev, what's your judgment on their movement?"

"It looks like they're trying to cut off our route west of Ladoga, and force us up against the lake," Tupolev answered. "I don't see any other way but to turn towards the lake."

Harris nodded soberly. "They probably think we're off balance now that we've lost the Strike E," he said. "And the best defense _is_ a good offense."

"This ship avoided major damage from the _Minerva_ last time," Tupolev added. "We can do it again."

"Then I'll lead the mobile suit force out," Harris said. "Above all, do not let the _Minerva_ inflict too much damage. We're still too far from Moscow to be worrying about it."

"Understood." Tupolev's screen went dark, and Harris sat back, easing the Rosso Aegis forward across the hangar floor. He glanced over at the Strike E's empty brace—what a failure _she_ had been. Unable to follow orders, bested in battle by an untrained teenage girl, openly rebellious...it seemed the only thing Kyali had been good for was providing some of the _Bonaparte_'s crew with a reminder of the pleasures of the flesh.

"I'll have to correct one more mistake of yours, Kyali," Harris growled, as his mobile suit came to a halt. "Harris Meyers, Rosso Aegis, moving out!"

—

The Twilight Gundam lurched out of the hangar, "Barrus" cannon in hand, and Emily clenched her gloved fists around the controls as the G-forces slammed into her again. But that would not stop her—the Rosso Aegis was somewhere out there, and she had promised to make that man pay. If she could not save Kyali, she could at least remove from the world the man who had been heartless enough to make this all happen.

"If you need any help," Shinn started, "then don't hesitate to call one of us—"

"I'll be fine," Emily said.

"This is something Emily must do on her own," Rau added, with that sinister smile of his. "It is best to let her take care of the Aegis."

Shinn and Athrun replied only with distasteful glares.

"MS team, we've got the enemy land-ship on visual," Roxy interrupted. "Looks to be about twenty-something mobile suits, plus the Aegis." She paused. "And the land-ship's turning to engage the _Minerva_."

"Then let's get this operation started," Athrun said. "Shinn, we'll take care of the _Minerva_—the land-ship is all yours."

"Roger," Shinn answered. "Emily—"

The Twilight rocketed forward before Shinn could say anything else, and in the cockpit, Emily narrowed her eyes at the approaching Rosso Aegis.

_I'll make you pay..._

The Twilight charged.

—

To be continued...


	18. Phase 18: A Promise in Blood

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 18 - A Promise in Blood

—

**March 7th, CE 77 - Lake Ladoga, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

The Twilight took off with a roar towards the approaching Rosso Aegis. Left behind, Shinn looked up in surprise.

"Emily, don't lose control!" he warned.

"She is a force unto herself now," Rau chuckled, as the Legend Gundam took up its position on the portside wing of the _Minerva_. "There is nothing you can do to stop her."

Shinn glared back and keyed in the frequency for the rest of his team. "Everyone, move forward and attack the enemy mobile suits. Let Emily be."

He glared up ahead at the approaching Windams. _You Phantom Pain bastards..._

—

Harris Meyers narrowed his eyes at the charging Twilight Gundam as he weaved around its furious beam blasts. "So, you're the little girl my men keep calling the Angel of Death, hmm?" The Rosso Aegis snapped its rifle up and opened fire. "Perhaps I should have thrown _you_ to all those troops in the crew lounge!"

"How could you do it...?" Emily snarled, firing back with the Barrus and forcing the Rosso Aegis on the defensive. "_How could you murder her!_"

The Rosso Aegis whirled around, beam rifle blazing, but the Twilight ducked around the shots effortlessly and blasted back with a Barrus shot that sent the Rosso Aegis spiraling for safety towards the ground. The Twilight followed, beam rifle in its left hand and firing a trail of shots after the Rosso Aegis as the two Gundams dropped towards the earth.

"Emily von Oldendorf..." Harris grunted, slamming on the brakes and spitting a beam salvo up at the charging Twilight, forcing the black-armored Gundam to dodge. "I can't understand why you and Kyali got along so well!"

The Twilight charged again with a Barrus blast, and the Rosso Aegis darted away, transforming in midair and lunging at the Twilight with open claws. Emily stormed towards it with a scream, sending the Twilight's right leg lancing forward to kick the Rosso Aegis just above the barrel of its Scylla cannon, and the mobile armor went spiraling away. She lined up for a killing blast with the Barrus—the Rosso Aegis fired back with its Scylla cannon, and the explosion between the two shots sent both Gundams reeling. The Rosso Aegis lunged up above the smoke, beam rifle in hand—Emily fired back with the Barrus again, and the Rosso Aegis went back on the defensive.

"She just wanted a friend," Emily murmured—the Twilight dodged the Rosso Aegis's furious beam rifle shots, squeezing off a return shot with the Barrus that almost took off the Rosso Aegis's right arm. "_She just wanted a friend! How could you murder her for that!_" Emily's eyes flashed in fury. "_I'll kill you!_"

The Rosso Aegis swept forward with a scything beam saber-assisted kick with its right leg—the Twilight ducked under the blow, and with a crash, sent its own leg shooting up into the Aegis's chest to throw it back. The Twilight leveled off its Barrus for a killing shot, but the Rosso Aegis dove out of harm's way.

"_Come back here!_" Emily screamed, as the Twilight took off again.

—

"There's that guy again," Auel said grimly as the Abyss and Chaos approached the charging Sword Calamity, flanked by a quartet of Windams. "This time he's not going back home!"

Across the way, Hayden clenched his fists around the Sword Calamity's controls. "I'm a soldier," he murmured to himself. "I...I fight...to protect...to follow my orders!" The Sword Calamity leveled off its two Windam beam rifles, opening fire with its Windam escorts. "_I follow my orders!_"

The Abyss and Chaos ducked around the beam blasts, and Sting fired back with his beam rifle. "You get rid of those Windams," he said, "and I'll handle Mr. Swordfighter there!"

The Chaos charged, leveling off its shield and opening fire with a machinegun volley aimed at the Sword Calamity's sub-wing. The enemy machines scattered—the Abyss rocketed up towards the Windams, lance pulled back and blade ignited, and fired a beam cannon volley to keep them apart.

Sting squeezed off a rifle shot that nearly took off the Sword Calamity's left leg, but the black Phantom Pain Gundam charged, returning fire with two rifles. Sting charged forward, seizing his chance, and with a crash, cut the rifle in the Sword Calamity's left hand in two.

"Damn you!" Hayden growled, abandoning the rifle and drawing a sword instead. The Sword Calamity swept in, sword raised—Sting deflected the blow with his shield, staggering away from the momentum of the blow.

"That sword has too much mass behind it!" Sting snarled, firing back with his beam rifle and watching in mounting frustration as the Sword Calamity effortlessly dodged his shots. "Dammit! You gonna make me fight with a saber, pal!"

—

Athrun Zala bit back a curse as he watched his beam saber slam against the Jet Windam's shield, and the Windam answered with a saber strike of its own that came up against the Infinite Justice's beam shield. The enemy land-ship was running low on mobile suits, but the pilots who were left were clearly the best in the complement.

A torrent of beam blasts came streaking out of the sky, slamming through the Windam from above and blowing it apart. Athrun lunged through the smoke, charging towards the next Windam, and put his saber through its chest, not waiting for it to explode to turn his sights on the third Windam. He glanced over his shoulder, as the Savior Gundam rocketed through the air, transforming into mobile suit mode to shower the Windams with beam rifle fire. Under the Savior's cover, Athrun stormed forward, ripping the third Windam in two with his saber, and sawing the fourth in half with his boomerang blade.

"There's more of them on their way," Athrun said grimly, looking up ahead. "Looks like we've narrowed their mobile suit force down to the best pilots."

The Legend Gundam dropped in next to the Justice, beam rifle in hand. "The weak are always the first to fall," Rau chuckled. "The worlds of man and beast collide most clearly on the battlefield."

"Shut up," Athrun snapped. He glanced at the Windams ahead. "Nine Jet Windams, and three Slaughter Windams..."

"They only give Slaughter Windams to aces..." Viveka started.

"It's the hardest Striker pack to qualify on in training," Athrun answered. "If you can handle it, it means you're probably pretty good." He narrowed his eyes at the black mobile suits on the warpath, drawing his beam rifle. "Whether or not you can win, though, is another matter."

Viveka smiled thinly. "I _am_ the Black Wolf," she said.

The three Gundams charged.

—

The Destiny rattled as the Windams' CIWS fire pelted the Phase Shift armor harmlessly. Shinn squinted through the flashing lights, charging and drawing his sword back. The Windam before him tried to take cover behind its shield, but Shinn brought the blade crashing down through the shield, tearing the Windam in half. He somersaulted over the dying mobile suit, picking off a second Windam with his long-range cannon, and landed with a crash.

His senses flared—the Destiny lunged to the side, as a salvo of shells went ripping across the battlefield, slamming into the snow with a flash of fire. Shinn magnified the image, finding a squad of Lightning Dark Windams standing tall on the land-ship's deck, their electromagnetic cannons extended, supported by a quartet of Doppelhorn Dark Windams.

"Stella, snipers!" he cried, ducking aside as another blast came shrieking in out of nowhere. "Does your rifle still have the long-range function?"

"Stella will shoot them all down!" she answered—the Gaia took cover behind its shield as a Lightning Windam's shell slammed home against it, driving the Gaia back through the snow.

Shinn somersaulted into the air, smashing his left-hand palm cannon through the cockpit of a passing Jet Windam, and lunged aside as its comrades. "The ship has more defenses than I thought...Stella, get into position and snipe them! I'll cover you!"

A volley from one of the Doppelhorn Windams slammed into the Destiny's beam shield, driving the Gundam back. Shinn burst through the smoke, leveling off his rifle at another Jet Windam and blowing it out of the sky. Down below, the Gaia ducked beneath a Windam's beam saber slash, impaling its foe through the cockpit with a saber strike of its own. The Gaia switched back to its rifle, somersaulting backwards and driving its shield into the snow; Stella put the Gaia's left foot down on top of the shield, steadying her left arm on the Gaia's raised knee and holding the rifle up. The scope at the rifle's top extended forward—in the cockpit, Stella pulled the rifle's scope down in front of her, narrowing her eyes at the distant targets on the land-ship's deck.

The Destiny landed heavily by the Gaia's side, switching back to its beam rifle and pouring firepower after the Windams as they stormed forward. One of the Windams leveled off a bazooka at the Gaia—Shinn darted between the two mobile suits, ripping off the Windam's arm with a palm cannon blow and sending its bazooka shell streaking up into the air—right through the cockpit of a charging Jet Windam.

"You have to go through me first!" Shinn snapped, finishing the Windam off with a beam rifle blast through the cockpit. He backpedaled behind his beam shield, glancing over his shoulder at the Gaia. "Stella!"

The Gaia fired, sending a pulsing green beam streaking across the battlefield. On the _Bonaparte_'s deck, the beam plowed through one of the Lightning Windams, blowing it apart and sending its compatriots staggering in surprise.

"I'll get them," Stella said quietly, as the Gaia shifted its aim. The Windams in front of the Destiny charged again—Shinn scowled, drawing his sword. The shells came down around the Destiny, but Shinn deployed his beam shields to protect the Gaia as it adjusted its rifle.

"You're gonna have to beat me if you want to hurt her," Shinn snarled, pointing his sword vindictively at the remaining Windams. "So I'd like to see you try!"

—

"_Murderer!_"

The screams rang throughout the cockpit as the Twilight Gundam charged relentlessly after the Rosso Aegis, showering it with pulsing blasts from the Barrus cannon clutched in its right hand. The Rosso Aegis whirled around, beam saber shining to life on its right leg—the Twilight dove back, firing off another Barrus blast that forced the Rosso Aegis on the defensive.

"What kind of Natural can fight like this with no training...?" Harris snarled. The Rosso Aegis swept in again, this time igniting the saber on its left arm, and brought it down with a crash through the Twilight's Barrus cannon. Emily shoved the ruined weapon into the Rosso Aegis's face, blowing it apart with a CIWS burst that sent the Rosso Aegis reeling towards the ground. "Dammit!"

"_She just wanted someone to be nice to her!_" Emily screamed, charging after the Rosso Aegis and switching her beam rifle to her right hand. "_I won't let you get away!_"

The Rosso Aegis somersaulted over the Twilight's killing beam blows, charging forward and igniting its left-hand saber again. "_You're mine!_"

The Twilight pounded the Rosso Aegis's face with a punishing kick, sending the red mobile suit spiraling down towards the earth. Harris shook his head, firing back with a beam rifle salvo, and scowling in frustration as the Twilight effortlessly slapped the shots aside with its beam shield.

"I promised her I'd save her, but I couldn't," Emily snarled, beam rifle blazing as the Twilight plunged after the Rosso Aegis. "So I promised her I'd kill you..._and I'll keep that one!_"

"She's never been this skilled before," Harris growled, firing the thrusters as he approached the ground. The Rosso Aegis leveled off and landed with a crash in the snow, skidding to a halt and bracing as the Twilight came charging forward. "I thought she was just a Natural!"

The Rosso Aegis opened fire with its beam rifle, but the Twilight ducked around the shots, returning fire. Harris deflected the blasts with his shield, whirling around as the Twilight circled around him and slammed down into the snow.

"Perhaps I should have just killed you as soon as I saw you," Harris snarled. "But I'll just have to correct that error here!"

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Bonaparte**_

The _Bonaparte_ rattled as a pulsing pair of beam blasts slammed down into the snow nearby. Tupolev gripped his chair's armrests in frustration, as another Doppelhorn Windam on the ship's deck exploded from a beam shot from nowhere.

"Damned _Minerva_," he growled. "We've hit them twice already and they haven't been scratched! Why?"

"It looks like they have laminated armor, sir," the sensor officer said. He glanced down at his board. "Missiles incoming!"

"CIWS, intercept!" The _Bonaparte_'s CIWS guns roared to life, cutting the _Minerva_'s missiles out of the sky. "Bring us around so we can get a clear shot! Gottfried One and Three, stand by!"

The smoke parted—Tupolev's eyes widened in disbelief as the _Minerva_ soared overhead, and its Isolde cannon thundered. A trio of shells smashed into the _Bonaparte_'s deck, smashing one of the Lightning Windams to pieces.

"Gottfrieds, _fire!_"

The _Bonaparte_'s four Gottfried cannons fired up into the air—the _Minerva_ ponderously swung to the side, letting the blasts sizzle through the sky, and fired off a volley of missiles that came streaking down into the _Bonaparte_'s CIWS screen.

"Sir, the _Minerva_ is pulling in behind us!" the sensor officer cried.

"Gottfried Three and Four, turn and fire! Don't let them attack!" Tupolev barked. The _Bonaparte_'s Gottfrieds blazed, and the _Minerva_ aborted its attack run to pull up over the shots. "Damn them! I won't let this ship be just another kill for them!"

—

"You guys think you're tough!" Auel screamed, spiraling through the air as a quartet of Jet Windams poured beam fire after him. "I can fight too!"

The Abyss whirled around, igniting the beam blade of its lance and slamming on the brakes. The Windams pulled up, but one of them was too late, and Auel smirked as he slammed his lance through the Windam's cockpit. "_Gotcha!_"

The Abyss turned again to deflect a volley of beam shots as the remaining three Windams came screaming in. He snapped up the Abyss's shoulder shells, pounding off a volley of cannon blasts and forcing the Windams to break formation—and with a scream, he charged and put his lance through the second Windam.

"Are you guys really from the Phantom Pain?" Auel cackled, whirling around again to deflect another volley of beam shots. "Neo would've kicked your asses for performance like this!"

The remaining two Windams unleashed a flurry of missiles—Auel sneered and cut them down with a CIWS burst, falling back and lunging over the smoke to squeeze off a Callidus shot. The Windams darted aside to let the blast sear by—

"_Say goodbye!_" Auel laughed—the Abyss let loose a beam cannon volley that ripped the left-hand Windam apart, and it vanished in a plume of fire. The remaining Windam turned, bringing its beam rifle to bear, but Auel charged into its face to slash the rifle in two. The Windam backed away, drawing a saber, and brought it down in a powerful overhead hack—the Abyss jammed its lance into the saber's path, leaving the two mobile suits locked together.

Auel grinned and angled up the right-hand shoulder shell, pointing the cannons directly at the Windam's face and torso, and blew it out of the sky with a laugh.

"I'm sorry," he chuckled, as the broken Windam exploded below him, "for being so powerful!" He glanced up at the battlefield. "Guess I better go bail Sting's sorry ass out, eh?"

The Abyss hefted its lance and took off.

—

The Gaia Gundam fired again, picking off a third Doppelhorn Windam on the _Bonaparte_'s deck, and ducked as a Lightning Windam's return shot streaked over its head. Stella glanced up from the rifle's scope, as Shinn did battle with the remaining Windams before them.

"You'll have to do better than that to beat me!" Shinn snapped, as the Destiny Gundam whirled around, sword in hand, and smashed the blade through the waist of a low-flying Jet Dark Windam. Another Windam charged towards the Destiny's exposed back, beam saber in hand—Shinn stabbed backwards with his sword, impaling the Windam on his blade, and then used the massive Arondight to hurl the broken Windam at one of its allies, blowing both machines apart in the process.

"Shinn!" Stella called out. "There's only two left!"

Shinn glanced back at the Gaia, as it took up its shield and leapt into the air. "Then I'll attack the ship myself! Will you be okay, Stella?"

Stella smiled back. "Nothing scary can get Stella now!" she shouted, as the Gaia rained beam fire down on the beleaguered Windams. Shinn flashed a grin and turned towards the _Bonaparte_.

"Then I'll end these guys myself!"

The seed fell, and the Destiny charged. A squad of Jet Windams rose up to stop him—

"_You can try!_"

The Destiny's beam wings flashed to life, and the Gundam danced around their beam shots, leaving an army of afterimages to catch the blows. With a crash, the Destiny slammed its sword through the first Windam, cleaving through its waist and plowing the blade into the second Windam. As the first two stricken Windams exploded, the Destiny stormed forward, and its beam wings sliced the last two Windams in half.

Somewhere on the battlefield, Shinn could feel a white-hot pinpoint of fury. Emily was still fighting the Aegis—

A wave of beam shots reclaimed his attention, and the Destiny charged towards the _Bonaparte_.

—

Landing hard on the snow, the Rosso Aegis raised its beam rifle towards the Twilight, firing wildly. Harris ground his teeth as the unstoppable black Gundam charged straight at him, deflecting his shots with its beam shield, and thrust his own shield forward to block the Twilight's inevitable beam rifle blast. The Twilight darted up into the Rosso Aegis's face, tearing the rifle from its hand and hurling it away.

"Two can play at that game!" Harris roared—the Rosso Aegis surged forward, activating its right-hand saber, and swiped furiously at the Twilight. It backflipped out of harm's way, landing with a crash on the snow and snapping its beam rifle up to fire. The Rosso Aegis leapt away as the Twilight continued firing—

Harris yelped in surprise as the Rosso Aegis lost its footing. He looked down in disbelief, finding the snow below him melting—and the Twilight was firing its shots down into the snow, melting it.

"She's trying to trap me!" he snarled. The Twilight leveled off its rifle for a killing blow. "Try again, little girl!"

The Rosso Aegis thrust itself into the air with a blast from its wing binders, backflipping over the Twilight's finishing shot and igniting its saber again. The Twilight stashed its rifle and drew a saber of its own from its shoulder, taking off after the Rosso Aegis.

"It's like she can see the future...!" Harris growled. "_What the hell are you!_"

—

The Chaos rattled as the Sword Calamity brought its sword down—Sting snarled, gunning the booster and charging forward. With a crash, he severed the Sword Calamity's right arm at the elbow with his left-hand beam claw, shoving the black Phantom Pain machine back.

"I'm not gonna be beaten!" Hayden cried, firing forward his left-hand anchor and seizing the Chaos's beam rifle. Sting clenched his teeth as the Sword Calamity yanked his rifle from his grasp and hurled it towards the ground. "_I'm a good soldier!_"

"Okay, we'll fight with sabers!" Sting shot back, drawing his beam saber and backing away to shower the Sword Calamity with missiles. Hayden fired back with a Scylla shot that set off a chain reaction, before lunging up above the explosions and storming down towards the Chaos.

"_You can't beat me!_" Hayden shrieked, raising its sword over his head and bringing it down with a crash onto the Chaos's shield. Sting grunted as the Chaos went reeling towards the ground.

"My shield isn't gonna hold out much longer against that sword," he growled. "Dammit!"

The Sword Calamity came charging in as the Chaos landed. It raised its sword again—only to see a flurry of beam shots lance down from the heavens, blasting its sub-wing apart and sending the Sword Calamity grinding to a halt in the snow. With a crash, the Abyss Gundam landed hard next to the Chaos, twirling its lance by its side.

"You always need me to save your ass," Auel chuckled.

"I could say the same for you," Sting shot back. "Look out!"

The Abyss opened fire with a beam cannon barrage that picked the Sword Calamity's beam boomerangs out of the air. The mobile suit itself came sprinting towards the two Gundams, sword raised.  
"I'm not a monster!" Hayden screamed. "_I'm not a monster!_"

—

Another Jet Windam went down in flames before the unstoppable Legend Gundam. Inside, Rau Le Creuset flashed a feral grin—humans weren't good at very many things, but when it came to creating efficient implements with which to kill each other, they were unrivaled.

He glanced back at the _Minerva_ as it swung through the air, trading fire with the _Bonaparte_. That ship was doing surprisingly well.

"Legend," Roxy's voice started, "Shinn is attacking the land-ship already. Can you get over there and assist?"

"If Athrun does not mind a hole in the ship's defense," Rau responded. "Captain, I suggest you be bolder in your attacks."

The _Minerva_ quaked as it shot down a volley of missiles. "Exactly how much bolder can we be, Commander Le Creuset?" Meyrin asked testily.  
The Legend turned towards the _Bonaparte_. "Move in over the snow, level with the enemy, and fire the Tannhäuser," Rau said. "They won't be able to evade and it will immobilize them, if not destroy them."

"But we'd risk damaging the ship!" Abbey protested.

"Then Malik will just have to not let the ship get damaged," Rau answered with a shrug.

"Yeah, thanks, no pressure or anything," Malik snapped.

"The radiation would ruin Karelia," Meyrin said. "We're not trying that. Rau, move in and support Shinn. _Minerva_, continue attacking from the air."

Rau smiled as the Legend descended down towards the beleaguered _Bonaparte_. Captain Hawke was finally finding her backbone.

—

"Tupolev, you're getting too close to the lake!" Harris growled as the Rosso Aegis spiraled through the air, dodging the Twilight's furious saber swipes. "Move east along the coast! If you get stuck against the shore, you're done for!"

The Twilight cut him off with a long-range cannon blast that sizzled by the Rosso Aegis, missing its armor by inches. "Stop running!" Emily snapped. "_I'm not letting you go!_"

"Who _is_ this kid!" Harris exclaimed, as the Twilight brought its saber down with a crash against the Rosso Aegis's blade. "Dammit, she's dominating me...!"

"I won't let you get away with what you did to her!" Emily snarled. "Come on, Twilight! We'll kill him! _We'll kill him!_"

The Twilight surged forward, throwing the Rosso Aegis back, and roared up towards the swinging Gundam with saber pulled back for a killing blow.

"_I don't think so!_" Harris roared, punching his shield forward to spoil the Twilight's finishing stab and swinging forward with his own saber. The Twilight blocked the blow with its beam shield, leaving the two Gundams locked together in midair. "Dammit, you weren't like this before!"

"For everything you did to her," Emily said, her hands trembling as she fixed the Rosso Aegis with a smoldering glare, "for everything you put her through when she _saved my life_..."

The Twilight's eyes flashed.

"_I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!_"

The Twilight pounded the Rosso Aegis in the stomach with a devastating kick, sending the red Gundam staggering out of the sky. Emily swept down like a hawk, saber raised, and only a desperate parry from the Rosso Aegis saved Harris.

"I can't believe this!" he cried. "I was trained by Rena Imelia! How can you be beating me when _you're just a little girl?_"

—

The Infinite Justice charged forward, deflecting desperate beam shots with its beam shield. It lunged forward, detaching its Fatum-01 and slamming its boomerang blade into the first Jet Windam's cockpit. Even as the Windam began to fall from the sky and explode, Athrun leapt off his dying foe, guiding the Fatum down through the sky and sawing the second Windam in two. It arced around as the Justice began to fall, slamming back onto the Gundam's back, and Athrun looked up at the final Windam, storming forward—

The Savior dropped in to put its saber through the Windam's cockpit and turn, deflecting beam shots from the two Slaughter Windams.

"Viveka!" Athrun shouted. He leveled off his beam rifle to fire back, but the Slaughter Windams dodged the shots effortlessly. One of them broke off to come screaming down towards the Justice—Athrun darted aside, but the Slaughter Windam whirled around as it passed, showering the Justice with beam rifle fire.

"Dammit, these guys aren't like the others!" Athrun growled, firing back. "Such mobility...!"

Up above, the Savior rattled as the Windam came down with a devastating kick to its shield. Viveka grunted and struggled to maintain control, but the Windam charged again, spewing beam rifle blasts. "Dammit, he's good...!"

Down below, the first Slaughter Windam came charging in for another attack, drawing a beam saber with its left hand and firing wildly with the rifle in its right. Athrun narrowed his eyes as the seed burst and the Windam approached—

The Justice ducked down below the Windam's saber swipe, drawing a beam saber in the process and sawing the Windam in two in one fluid motion. He returned the saber to its rack and glanced up at the Savior.

Up above, Savior shook as the Windam kicked its shield arm out of the way, knocking the shield wide and exposing the body. Viveka looked up in disbelief as the Windam leveled off its rifle for a killing shot—

"_I won't let you!_"

A beam rifle blast went drilling through the Windam's rifle, blowing it apart. The Windam turned in disbelief—and with a furious scream, the Infinite Justice rammed it bodily, throwing the Phantom Pain mobile suit back and leaving it wide open for Athrun to viciously cut it in half with his boomerang blade.

The Justice backed away, beam blade shimmering, as the Windam exploded. Athrun glanced back at the Savior.

"Um, thanks for that," Viveka said sheepishly.

"I'm not letting another teammate of mine die," Athrun answered. "Let's go."

—

Stella couldn't help but grin as the latest challenger, an IWSP Windam with both swords drawn, came charging at her. These guys thought they were so scary, but she would show them.

The Windam brought its swords down with a crash onto the Gaia's shield—Stella thrust her shield skyward and stabbed into the Windam's exposed chest with her saber, blowing it apart. The Gaia lunged through the smoke, charging at a Jet Windam and cutting its beam rifle in half. She whirled around as the Windam turned, trying to draw its saber, and tore the Windam in two along its waist.

"I can be scary too!" she snapped—the remaining four Jet Windams backed away with a beam rifle volley that pummeled the Gaia's shield. "Come back!"

The Windam at the lead charged forward, beam rifle blazing—Stella narrowed her eyes, finding a tiny seed bursting before her, and cut the Windam in two as it passed by. Switching back to her beam rifle, she somersaulted up into the air and fired back at the desperate Windams, scattering them around her. One of the Windams came streaking in from her left—the Gaia flipped over its head and shot it in the back as it passed by. The remaining two Windams came in together, spewing beam shots.

Stella charged forward, drawing a saber and tearing one of the Windams in half at the waist. The remaining one whirled around, bringing its rifle to bear—with a scream, Stella planted the saber in the Windam's cockpit, and then kicked it away.

"I win," she said, switching back to the rifle and taking off towards the _Bonaparte_.

—

Shrieking in low over the waters of Lake Ladoga, Harris bit back a curse as he dodged the saber strokes of the Twilight Gundam. "She's unstoppable...!" He whirled around, slamming on the brakes and bringing the Rosso Aegis's saber down onto the Twilight's beam shield. It stabbed back with its own saber, and Harris barely deflected the blow with his shield.

"I'll tear you apart!" Emily cried. The Twilight roared forward, pushing the Rosso Aegis with it, and kicked it in the face. Harris growled as his mobile suit shook, and transformed it into its mobile armor mode to swipe furiously at the Twilight. Emily threw her Gundam back as the Rosso Aegis snapped at her with its claws. "You...!"

The Rosso Aegis charged towards her, claws spread open—

"_I'll kill you!_"

The seed burst, and with a scream, the Twilight lunged forward and slashed the Rosso Aegis's Scylla cannon out, diving out of the reach of its claws. Harris's eyes bulged as he saw the smoke rising from his mobile suit's main weapon.

"She slipped out of it? How!" He whirled around, transforming again and reactivating his beam saber just in time to block a downward hack from the Twilight. "And she took out my Scylla! Are you some kind of monster?"

"I'll finish you off!" Emily shouted, her dull and lightless eyes flashing with fury. "Give me the power to kill him, Twilight! _I won't break this promise!_"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"Captain, I'm getting another signal!" Burt exclaimed, glancing over at Meyrin even as the _Minerva_ roared through battle.

"The _Charlemagne?_" Abbey asked, her face tense.

"No, it's something different," Burt said. "The heat source is smaller!"

"Let's hope it's on our side," Meyrin said, narrowing her eyes at the _Bonaparte_ down below. "Or at least not on theirs. Isolde, target the enemy's aft port beam cannon! _Fire!_"

The Isolde fired with a thunderclap, and the three shells slammed into the tower housing the _Bonaparte_'s Gottfried Three, blowing it off the ship and sending it smashing into the snow.

"Yes! First blood is ours!" Roxy exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air.

"It's not finished yet," Meyrin said, struggling to draw on every ounce of authority she had ever heard Talia use. "Chen, angle the weapons to force it off course! Push it against the lake and it'll have nowhere to go!"

—

The last trio of Jet Windams, with a Slaughter Windam at their head, came streaking through the sky towards the Destiny. Shinn scowled at them all, drawing his beam rifle and charging forward with a blur of afterimages on his flanks.

"I've beaten Kira Yamato!" Shinn snapped. "You guys don't stand a chance!"

The Jet Windams spread out, opening fire—Shinn darted through their blasts effortlessly, dancing around the beams and flinging an army of afterimages across the battlefield. With a crash, he crushed the cockpit of the first Windam with a palm cannon blow. The Windam died in a cloud of fire—the Destiny burst through with a beam rifle shot and a long cannon shot to blow the remaining Jet Windams out of the sky. The Slaughter Windam charged—Shinn brought his palm cannon down to tear its rifle from its hand, and as the Slaughter Windam drew a saber, he responded with his sword to smash the Windam down by its shield.

"Don't run!" Shinn cried, dropping down with sword raised high. The Slaughter Windam raised its saber—Shinn sent the whole mobile suit reeling with a punishing sword blow. The Slaughter Windam struggled to escape, firing the thrusters in its Aile Striker pack. The Destiny lunged into its face with another sword blow slamming against its saber, afterimages flashing and dancing around the two machines.

The Slaughter Windam desperately tried to kick the Destiny with its right leg—Shinn seized the Windam by its ankle, and with a scream, swung the Windam around his back. With his right hand, he twirled the sword around and slammed it through the Windam's cockpit behind his back.

The Destiny dropped the dead Windam, letting it slide off the sword blade, and took off.

—

"He just won't die!" Auel screamed, dodging the Sword Calamity's furious Scylla shots and firing back with his Callidus gun. The Sword Calamity somersaulted up over the blast and brought its sword down with a crash onto the Chaos's shield.

"My shield's gonna break at this rate!" Sting growled. "_Shit!_"

The Chaos lunged forward, pushing the Sword Calamity back. It fired another Scylla shot—the Chaos dove aside, and Sting seized his change, swiping forward with his saber and severing both of the Sword Calamity's legs at the knees. The Phantom Pain toppled over face-first into the snow, and struggled to right itself with its remaining arm.

"Auel, now!" Sting shouted.

The Abyss lunged forward, twirling its lance overhead.

"_I'm not gonna die a monster!_" Hayden screamed.

Auel and Sting both watched in disbelief as the Sword Calamity exploded before their eyes.

"He self-destructed?" Auel exclaimed, putting himself between the blast and the Chaos and deflecting debris with his shoulder shells. "What the hell was that for?"

The Chaos got back to its feet, picking up its nearby beam rifle. "Let's find that land-ship," Sting growled. "We're gonna finish them off for good this time!"

—

The _Bonaparte_ was on course for the lake now, driving towards the shore as the _Minerva_ tore apart the ground around it. Emily narrowed her eyes at the Rosso Aegis as the two dueling Gundams battled their way over the _Bonaparte_, bringing her saber down onto the Rosso Aegis's shield. "You're not getting away!"

The Rosso Aegis surged forward—the Twilight stopped it with a punishing kick to the chest. It followed up with another saber stroke that the Rosso Aegis's shield barely blocked. Emily scowled and kicked the shield off the Rosso Aegis's arm with a crash—Harris backed away, igniting his left-hand beam saber in its place.

"She's just a child," he breathed. "She can't beat me! I'm an officer in the Phantom Pain!"

The Rosso Aegis charged, swinging forward with its right-hand saber. Emily screamed back and stopped the blow with her beam shield, before slicing off the Rosso Aegis's left arm at the shoulder with a bone-jarring shriek of twisting metal. The Rosso Aegis rocked as the Twilight sent it staggering back with a punishing kick to the stomach.

"Damn you!" Harris roared, eyes flashing. "_I won't be beaten by a little girl!_"

The Rosso Aegis charged forward again, drawing back its saber for one more blow.

Emily clenched her teeth as time slowed and the Rosso Aegis came storming towards her. She felt Kyali's hands on her own, reassuring her, showing her the way—

"_I'LL KILL YOU!_"

The Twilight smacked the Rosso Aegis's beam saber aside with a crash from its beam shield—an instant later, Emily screamed in rage as she drove her saber into the Rosso Aegis's chest. Harris screamed as the armor of his machine buckled and a broken end of the Rosso Aegis's cockpit plowed through his stomach, impaling his body with a gruesome spray of blood. The Twilight reared back and kicked the Rosso Aegis, sending it spiraling out of the sky.

Down below, on the bridge of the _Bonaparte_, Tupolev leapt from his seat and looked up in horror.

"Evade! _Evade!_" he cried—and screamed as the Rosso Aegis's ruined body slammed into the bridge.

Inside the cockpit, Harris coughed up a mouthful of blood and looked up blearily at the Twilight, hovering above him with shimmering wings of light.

"F-Forgive me...father..."

The Rosso Aegis vanished in a dazzling fireball.

The _Bonaparte_ continued forward under its own power, even as its bridge tower disappeared in a flash of fire and smoke. It staggered forward, down the shore of the lake, plowing through the water before it finally sank into deeper waters.

Emily watched it all with tears in her burning, lightless eyes.

—

To be continued...


	19. Phase 19: The Junk Guild

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 19 - The Junk Guild

—

**March 7th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Lake Ladoga, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"Wreckage," said Ivan Danilov, staring out the bridge windows at the scene before him. "That's all that's left."

The _Charlemagne_ sat on the coast of Lake Ladoga, as troops and mobile suits inspected the mortal remains of the Meyers unit. From the bridge, Danilov could see the blackened metal sticking out of the lake's waters, and he had a sinking feeling that that had once been the _Bonaparte_—but how it had gotten there, he hadn't a clue.

Danilov keyed the main screen on—he had sent soldiers out to look for survivors and corpses, but had already sent his prayer to God that they would find more of the former than the latter.

"Ensign Saiba," Danilov began, "report."

Inside the cockpit of his Slaughter Windam, Grey Saiba saluted dutifully. "We've found twenty-seven bodies and ten survivors so far, sir," Grey answered. "Six of the survivors are in critical condition." He glanced down at his screen. "Oh, wait sir, they just pulled a man out of that Sword Calamity unit. That makes eleven survivors."

"And the ship?" Danilov asked.

"The divers are still inspecting the hull," Grey said. "The sergeant in charge says that infrared scans show human heat signatures. There might be air pockets with survivors in them, but they might just be fresh corpses too."

"I see," Danilov murmured thoughtfully. "The Phantom Pain usually assigns special units like the Sword Calamity to special pilots. The man you just mentioned, how badly wounded is he?"

"I can't tell from here, sir, but we're sending him up to the _Charlemagne_'s infirmary," Grey answered. "I caught a glimpse of him as they were loading him onto the stretcher, and he looked pretty bad, but I couldn't tell what exactly was wrong."

"I'm sure he'll be able to give us a fuller picture of what happened here," Danilov said. "The _Bonaparte_ had a wealth of information about the Twilight and its pilot. I'd hate to think it's all been lost."

"We'll keep looking, sir," Grey said. "The divers report that they're entering the ship."

"Then report back when they send their findings up to you," Danilov said. "_Charlemagne_ out." He returned Grey's salute and sat back with a sigh. _To think that we have such power and we still can only watch our comrades fall to these wings of light._ He narrowed his eyes at the horizon. _And to think that blood lies on the hands of a sixteen-year-old girl..._

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Yaroslavl', Yaroslavl' Oblast, Russia**

The _Minerva_ sailed through the sky, cutting down just below the low-hanging clouds and sweeping the frigid Russian countryside. Sitting back in the captain's chair, Meyrin was certain that the people on the ground were rushing out of their homes and pointing in disbelief at the _Minerva_ as it swooped over their heads—but that made little difference to her. No Phantom Pain units could reach her ship right now—and she had an appointment to keep.

"We'd be at Noril'sk at least by now if it weren't for that land-ship," Abbey sighed, leaning tiredly against the mapping console. "I wish the rendezvous point had been further east, not south. Yaroslavl' is too close to Moscow."

"This is where the Junk Guild said they'd meet us," Meyrin pointed out. "We've probably got Russian Command off balance after that battle, so now is a good time to stop and resupply." She glanced up at Burt. "Where is the _Charlemagne_?"

"Still at Lake Ladoga," Burt reported. "They must be looking for survivors."

The image of Emily in battle with the Rosso Aegis flashed into Meyrin's mind. "I know there's one guy they're not going to find alive," she murmured. "As long as they stay there during our resupply..."

"Hey, speaking of that," Roxy spoke up, tapping a button on her console with the tip of her boot, "we got some mail from the fine folks in the Junk Guild."

All at once, the _Minerva_'s bridge screen was filled with the image of a widely grinning man in a uniform and a white peaked hat.

"Greetings, beleaguered soldiers of the _Minerva!_" the man said excitedly. "You have fought long and hard, but never fear, for the Junk Guild ship _ReHOME_ is here, under the command of the one and only _George Glenn!_" Fireworks exploded in the background as the man pointed skyward triumphantly.

"Hi George," Meyrin droned.

"What, you're not happy to see me?" George gasped.

"Well, you're a sight better than the bloody Phantom Pain," Abbey muttered. "Is the Professor there?"

"Yeah," another voice piped up, and George partially vanished as a woman in a lab coat appeared with a cigarette in hand, "so I guess you guys got caught with your pants down?"

"I guess," Meyrin sighed. "Did you guys get our parts list?"

"Did we!" yet another voice exclaimed, and the screen immediately filled up with the giddy face of a young man with hair swept high by a green headband. "You _know_ I love building those spare parts! Man, I should totally gank one of those 'Palma Fiocina' things! It's awesome! I can call it, like, 'Red Frame Final Flash,' or 'Shining Red Frame,' or—"

"Lowe, pay attention!" a girl's voice cut him off in the background.

"Red Frame Flare!" Lowe finished. "Come on, Kisato, it would be awesome! Anyway, yeah, I got it all done. I guess we'll bill Carpentaria or somethin', eh?"

"We'll reach the rendezvous site in twenty minutes," Malik added from the helm.

"Then let's do this quickly," Abbey said. "We don't want to attract any Alliance troops."

"And while we're doing that," the Professor said, pausing to take a drag from her cigarette, "we've got some mail from the Seer himself for you."

Meyrin arched an eyebrow in foreboding. "Chiao Xu? What does he want?"

"You'll see," the Professor chuckled. "_ReHOME_ out."

Abbey sighed in annoyance as the screen dark. "I hate it when she gets cryptic."

—

There was no mistaking from the torrent of emotions swelling from inside Emily's room that the death of Harris Meyers had not been the end of Emily's suffering. That was something that Shinn, standing outside her door and trying not to let her emotions become his own, knew all too well. Revenge was at best a temporary salve—it was not a cure. In some hearts, and for some things, there was no room for forgiveness—but revenge could not soothe the hurt.

Shinn found it supremely ironic that Lacus Clyne still found ways to be right.

He opened the door and stepped inside, finding Emily curled up on the bed, still in the blue overcoat and gray gloves she had worn into battle. She looked up blearily at the Destiny pilot before her, and Shinn could see that she had still been crying.

"We're putting down near the city of Yaroslavl' to take on supplies from the Junk Guild," he explained quietly. "If you want some fresh air, now's the time." He glanced furtively over his shoulder, shutting the door. "How are you feeling?"

Emily stared darkly at the wall in front of her. "I could kill that man a thousand more times," she said, "and it wouldn't change anything, would it?"

Shinn glanced down at the floor. "No," he said, "it wouldn't."

"I still don't understand why he had to be so cruel," Emily went on. "How can you act like that?"

"The Alliance doesn't view its Extended subjects as humans," he explained with a shrug. "I should have warned you better."

Emily buried her face in her hand with a sigh of her own. "I wanted to save her..."

"I don't know if you could have."

"Then how did you save Stella?"

Shinn smiled grimly, leaning back against the door. "I don't know," he said. His smile faded. "But...while you were being held prisoner, I could feel what they were doing to you." He shook his head, blocking out the memories of his own failures. "And I'm not going to let that happen again."

"It wasn't your fault—" Emily began.

"I failed you," Shinn cut her off. "I've failed too many people in my life already. I won't let it happen again." He paused. "I don't want you to turn out like me."

Emily studied Shinn for a moment tiredly, and then sighed again.

—

**Hart Senate Office Building, Washington D.C., Atlantic Federation**

The silence hung like a cloud of Robert Meyers as he sat stonily in the desk in his spacious Washington D.C. office. Behind his desk, Seri Minamoto had let her militaristic poise drop as she watched the Senator in disbelief, with the young Phantom Pain corporal in front of him standing at attention nervously.

"My son has died in battle with the _Minerva_, you say," Robert said quietly. "Is there anything else?"

"N-No sir," the corporal answered. "Captain Danilov on the _Charlemagne_ was the first on the scene, and another unit is there as well. They reported finding your son's remains."

Robert's visage darkened. "I see," he said. "Thank you, corporal. That will be all."

The corporal saluted and promptly excused himself, the door sliding shut behind him. Seri stepped forward apprehensively, as the Senator brooded in his chair, eyes closed.

"S-Sir," she started.

"What remains in my schedule for today?" he asked, glancing over at her. She consulted the display on Robert's computer screen.

"You have a meeting with the bigwigs on the Armed Services Committee about the funding bill in an hour," she said haltingly, "and there's the briefing by the vice president of Actaeon..."

"Then take me to the meeting," Robert said conclusively.

Seri blinked in disbelief. "But, sir...y-you still want to work?"

"Why would I not? I am a busy man, after all."

Seri took a moment to choose her words. "But your son just died..."

Robert narrowed his coal-black eyes. "This is a war, Seri," he said. "The battlefield weeds out the weak. If Harris could not survive...then he must have been weak."

Seri looked on in shock as the Senator rose to his feet.

"Now. The people's work awaits."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Lake Ladoga, Republic of Karelia, Russia**

"God," Grey sighed as he emerged from the hangar ready room with a sigh, rolling up the sleeves of his uniform. "That was depressing."

Leaning against the far wall with arms crossed, Merau nodded grimly. "Searching for survivors is never fun," she agreed. "You alright?"

"Yeah, most of the bodies we found were less 'bodies' and more 'pieces,'" Grey replied, heading down the hallway with Merau by his side. "But still. Not exactly an encouraging sortie."

They came to a stop at an observation deck, overlooking the vast and eerie panorama of Alliance troops scouring the wreckage of the Meyers unit, on the calm and lovely shores of Lake Ladoga. Grey leaned forward against the rail with a sigh.

"Man. Not a single MS left, either," he added. "They totaled the entire unit."

"That's not much of a surprise," Merau said, crossing her arms again. "The _Minerva_ does stuff like this all the time. That the guy they got this time was the son of an important guy in the Atlantic Fed government is just incidental."

"I know," Grey answered, "but still...jeez." He looked back out at the wreckage, as a team of Windams were struggling to pull the wreckage of the _Bonaparte_ out of the lake. "Those guys are unstoppable."

—

**March 8th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Yaroslavl', Yaroslavl' Oblast, Russia**

Standing on the bridge, with Rau, Abbey, and Meyrin nearby, Athrun Zala could only blink in surprise as he found himself enveloped in a bear hug, courtesy of the ever-ebullient Junk Guild technician, Lowe Gear. Lowe let Athrun go with a beaming grin.

"Athrun Zala, man! How the hell are ya?"

"Could be better," Athrun said, subdued.

"We had a rough week," Meyrin added from Athrun's side. Next to Meyrin, Abbey crossed her arms impatiently.

"Well, yeah, so I heard," Lowe went on. "They say your new pilot got captured or somethin'."

"Yeah, don't remind us," Abbey said.

"Well, anyways," Lowe said, crossing his arms. "We're here for business, I'm afraid." He glanced over his shoulder at the man nearby. "Gai, you got the goods?"

In a black and blue custom uniform with the emblem of Serpent Tail on his shoulder, Gai Murakumo stepped forward with one hand on his hip. "Chiao Xu sends his regards," Gai said. "He also sends you a mission." He tapped a few keys on the mapping console, bringing up a sprawling map of the Black Sea. "Chiao Xu and the leadership feel that this war needs to change. They believe that a worldwide guerrilla war, like the one we're fighting now, will just lead to countless meaningless deaths. Hence, Chiao Xu has sent word to every major Resistance unit that will listen to make their way to Carpentaria base, to mass a fleet for a concentrated attack on Lord Djibril's headquarters at Heaven's Base, with the hope that such decisive action will end the war. Unfortunately, there is a problem."

"When is there not?" Athrun sighed.

"See, some shit's going down here in Novorossiysk," Lowe said, pointing at a dot on the map on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. "A bunch of Resistance units are trying to use the port there to escape, 'cuz the mayor was sympathetic to the cause. The Phantom Pain assassinated him and put one of their creatures in charge, and moved in a bunch of EA Army units to clamp down on the city." Lowe looked up, and his grin was gone. "They're kickin' down doors and arresting Coordinators and people they think are in cahoots with the Resistance. And I don't need to tell you guys that once the Phantom Pain captures you, your future ain't lookin' too bright."

"Novorossiysk was the only suitable port for Resistance troops in the region, because it was in a city with a sympathetic government," Gai continued. "Now that conditions have changed, those units are in danger. The Resistance forces in the Novorossiysk area constitute the approximate strength of three regular army divisions and a thirty-five ship fleet. Losing those forces would be a significant blow. Chiao Xu wants the _Minerva_ to go to Novorossiysk and break the blockade, so that our allies can escape."

Meyrin looked down at the display, and Athrun could see her trying to look like the captain. "We'll do it," she said, "but we can't afford to be delayed. It's a long way from here to Novorossiysk, and I'm sure the Alliance will be taking a crack at us in retaliation for destroying that land-ship back there."

"The _ReHOME_ will accompany you," Gai said. Athrun, Abbey, and Meyrin looked up in surprise.

"But what about the Junk Guild?" Abbey protested. "If the Alliance sees you with us, that will compromise your neutrality."

"Not to mention you'd probably be attacked as well anyway," Meyrin added.

"Eh, the Junk Guild hired Serpent Tail to worry about that," Lowe said with a shrug. "And even though the Junk Guild publicly claims to be neutral, we all know that's really bullshit and the Guild's been secretly feeding supplies to the Resistance for months. So at this point, who cares?" He grinned at Gai. "'sides, you like being on the side of good and righteousness for once, don't ya Gai?"

"I'm just doing my job," Gai answered.

"You don't have to come with us," Athrun said. "It would be dangerous."

"Pfft, like I'm ever worried about _that,_" Lowe snickered. "'sides, you guys will have the grand and glorious privilege of seeing the Red Frame in action, and I'll get to see that girl you guys picked up in battle! So it's a win-win."

Meyrin heaved a sigh of defeat. "You guys are gonna get killed one day doing this," she warned.

"Well, hey, what if we weren't doing this?" Lowe laughed. "Then life would be boring."

—

"The Junk Guild is our supplier," Shinn explained while standing on the snowy ground outside the _Minerva_, staring pensively up at the bright yellow hull of the _ReHOME_ with Emily at his side. "Technically they're supposed to be neutral and not be helping us, but they've been secretly funneling supplies to the Resistance ever since the Phantom Pain started assassinating Coordinator members of the Guild." He smiled thinly. "So be nice to 'em."

Emily looked up in surprise into the _ReHOME_'s open hangar, finding a quartet of mobile suits she had never seen before. She glanced to the side as someone approached, and blinked at a tall man with long, dark hair shook Shinn's hand.

"Liam," Shinn said with a smile, "it's been a long time."

"Indeed it has," Liam agreed, "and I am glad you appear well." He looked over at Emily. "But I'm afraid you have new friends to whom I have not been introduced."

Shinn gestured to the tall man. "Emily, meet Liam Garfield. Liam, Emily von Oldendorf. Pilot of the Twilight Gundam."

"I see," Liam said, shaking her hesitant hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Oldendorf. You seem well on your way to an illustrious reputation in the Resistance."

"Um, thanks," Emily murmured.

Liam turned as another man approached, and Emily found herself greeted with the imposing specter of a man swathed in black and silver clothes, brushing a flowing mane of black hair out of his face. "Ah, Canard. Allow me to introduce you to the _Minerva_'s newest pilot—"

"Emily von Oldendorf," finished the man. "I know who you are."

"Emily, this is Canard Pars," Shinn explained. "He's a mercenary. We've worked with him a few times before." He glanced over at Canard. "I'm guessing you got hired to protect the _ReHOME_ too?"

"Lowe Gear needs all the babysitters he can get," Canard said with a shrug. "Meriol stayed in space with the _Ortygia_. I was hired to stay here and make sure Lowe doesn't get the _ReHOME_ blown up."

"Hey now," another voice spoke up—Shinn blinked in surprise, while a look of defeat and annoyance flashed over Liam and Canard's faces. "_Don't forget about me!_"

Emily leapt backward and screamed in surprise as a man in a black and white uniform flashed into existence in front of her with a glowing grin on his face. Shinn buried his face in his hands with a sigh.

"Hi George," he droned.

"I swear I'm going to tear out the projectors if you pull this shit again," Canard snapped.

"You guys wouldn't do that to _me!_" gasped George Glenn, eyes going wide with shock. "I thought we were friends!"

"What is this thing?" Emily wailed, pointing in fear at the flickering hologram.

"Ah, I see an explanation is in order," Liam started. "You see, this is a holographic representation of the first Coordinator, George Glenn. He serves as the _ReHOME_'s main computer and navigator."

"Wha—_the_ George Glenn?" Emily sputtered. "How—?"

"They have George Glenn's brain floating around their ship in a jar," Shinn deadpanned, "and they hooked it up to their computer."

"...why?" Emily finished helplessly.

"Even I do not understand that," Liam sighed.

"The Professor is a mad scientist, that's why," Canard snorted.

Emily looked over at the holographic George Glenn as he grinned back. "So...that's really George Glenn, the first Coordinator?"

"The one and only!" George exclaimed. "I can do anything! Watch!" Immediately his uniform was replaced by an elaborate white tuxedo, and he held up an entire deck's worth of playing cards. "Pick a card! Any card!"

Emily stared at him for a moment and looked back at Shinn. "That's seriously George Glenn?"

"I was as shocked as you," Shinn said with a shrug.

"Why doesn't anybody believe me?" George complained, reverting back to his captain's uniform. "You guys all pilot giant robots as legitimate weapons of war, and _I'm_ the weird one?"

"I'm going back inside," Canard grumbled, turning and trudging back to the ship.

"Anyway, don't let George scare you," Shinn went on. "He's pretty harmless."

"Hey, I bet I could take you in a fight!" George protested.

"Yeah, whatever," Shinn said. "Liam, have you unloaded the new weapons yet? I want to show them to Emily."

"We're just about to, right this way," Liam said, gesturing towards a stack of crates near the front of the _ReHOME_'s hangar. "And I'm sure the captain will be more than happy to help us?"

"I guess," George sighed as he trudged after them.

—

Sting Oakley sat back with a sigh in the crew lounge, a cup of microwave ramen in front of him that was not accompanied by a great urge to eat it. "Man, these past few days were pretty shitty," he said, stretching his arms over his head and glancing at Auel. "Glad all this drama's behind us."

"Yeah," Auel agreed, looking up at the ceiling as he sprawled out on the couch next to the table. "After we get done with Junk Guild Claus here." He glanced over at Stella, as she sat on the other side of the table with a water bottle in hand, staring emptily at the table. "Hey Stella, you okay?"

"...Stella's okay," she answered quietly.

The door slid open; Stella looked up, and smiled slowly at the figure emerging through the threshold. Sting and Auel sat up as Kazahana Aja walked up to Stella with a smile.

"Kazahana...!" Stella exclaimed, getting up and hugging the young Coordinator. "Stella missed you!"

"Hi Stella," Kazahana said brightly, hugging her back. "We haven't seen you since the _ReHOME_ last restocked the _Minerva_."

"Oh, hey Genius Girl," Auel said with a shrug.

"It's better to have the _ReHOME_ crew around than to be dealing with those Phantom Pain dickheads," Sting added.

"Stella's not scared of them," Stella insisted.

"Are you getting along well with everyone, Stella?" Kazahana asked. "I hope the information I found about the Extended process was helpful."

Stella smiled again. "Stella is different," she said, "but it's okay...because Stella has lots of friends."

—

"So what do you think?" Lowe said, leaning against the railing on the _Minerva_'s exterior deck and glancing over at the bright yellow _ReHOME_, with Gai Murakumo nearby. "You think this is a good idea?"

Gai glanced over at Lowe. "I've never known you to doubt your convictions, Lowe Gear," he said. "It is unwise to fight with doubts on your mind."

"I know we're doing the right thing and all," Lowe said, "but I'm askin' about you." He shook his head. "Y'know the Phantom Pain captured that girl, Emily? Athrun told me what happened. They tortured her."

Gai did not flinch. "The Phantom Pain does not abide by the Corsica Treaty," Gai said indifferently. "They have made that abundantly clear."

"Yeah, well, I don't like the idea that they tortured a kid," Lowe said. "So that's why I'm going with the _Minerva_ to go and fight these guys. What about you?"

"It's my job," answered Gai.

"I know," said Lowe, "but...bah. It just doesn't sit right with me, y'know?"

Gai allowed himself a thin smile. "For a junker, you are awfully concerned with this war."

"Hell with the junker part," Lowe said, grinning back, "I'm just doing this as a human being."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Vologda Oblast, Russia**

The pilot of the Sword Calamity was less of a man, as Ensign Saiba had described him, and more of a boy. And that chilled the heart of Ivan Danilov. Youth was too precious to waste on war. But Ensign Saiba's characterization of the pilot's condition as "pretty bad" was an understatement. Hypothermia and various wounds had combined to take from him enough blood to require a significant transfusion, and it was a wonder he was not dead. The soldiers who had pulled him from the wreck had described the cockpit as being relatively intact—with "relatively" being the operative word—and apparently protected from the blast that destroyed the mobile suit by having fallen face-first on the ground.

Now, however, the pilot was safe in a bed in the infirmary of the _Charlemagne_, and, as Danilov noted grimly, he was starting to wake up.

"Welcome aboard the _Charlemagne_, Sergeant Hayden," Danilov greeted, as the young man blinked painfully at him. "You are lucky to be alive, but we will care for you until a transport can convey you to a medical facility more permanent than ours."

"...we...lost?" Hayden croaked.

"Yes, the Meyers unit was wiped out," Danilov said. "Colonel Meyers was killed in action."

Hayden's eyes closed. "The...the Extended..."

Danilov felt his heart sink. The Meyers unit had included an Extended. "What about the Extended?"

"...she...s-suffered," Hayden groaned. Danilov blinked, leaning down close to the wounded young soldier. "...they...did things to her..." He opened his eyes again, pleadingly staring up at Danilov. "...s-so please, sir...tell me that...I'm...not a monster..."

"He's delirious, sir," one of the orderlies explained. "Exposure and morphine and all that he's been through today will do that to you."

Danilov looked back down at the pilot as he drifted off to sleep. "Delirious," he repeated. "I'm sure he is."

—

With nothing to do at Vilnius, Sven Cal Bayan had spent much of his time either working on combat tactics to use against the Destiny Gundam or digging into the history of the enigmatic Emily von Oldendorf. The former had proven relatively fruitful; the latter, not so much. And so Sven sat in his room on the _Charlemagne_, his notes on the screen before him, trying not to feel frustrated at how little he had.

A father who did not seem to want her company, a mother in poor health, and a sister who ran away shortly after the end of the Junius War...somehow there was a way to put it all together. Sven did not understand how the Phantom Pain could have so little knowledge about Emily von Oldendorf and yet allow her to work as part of the household staff of their master, Lord Djibril. Such foolishness was never tolerated and fearfully punished in the ranks of the Phantom Pain.

Sven keyed his password into the databanks of Heaven's Base, scouring the server for signs of the mysterious little girl in the Twilight Gundam. A single file popped up, in a registry Sven did not recognize—and as he tried to access it, he ran into the discouraging wall of a lack of authorization.

If the lack of information about Emily made no sense, the information about Emily requiring authorization to view made even less sense. A man of his rank in the Phantom Pain should have had access to the records on people as irrelevant as the domestic servants.

Which meant Emily von Oldendorf was far from irrelevant.

Sven sat back to think.

—

The _Charlemagne_'s hangar was subdued as the pilots and mechanics found themselves awaiting orders, while the ship itself cruised south in the wake of the _Minerva_. The next battle between the two ships was imminent, of course, but until that battle came, there was little for the crew to do but wait.

And so, Shams Coza and Mudie Holcroft stood with arms crossed, leaning on the railing of the gantry overlooking the silent Blu Duel and Verde Buster.

"At least we had a chance to improve the engines," Shams said with a sigh. "Now we don't need those damned sub-wings to fly."

Mudie sniffed contemptuously. "That Destiny..."

"Sven's got a new plan to take that thing down," Shams added tiredly. "Wonder if it'll work?"

Mudie said nothing; Shams scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Mudie's way of conversation was less a conversation with the other person, and more a conversation with herself that might involve the other person from time to time—and that made things supremely awkward.

He looked back at the Verde Buster's caged face. "I wonder if we'll ever have a chance to leave the Phantom Pain," he said, drawing a confused look from Mudie. "Y'know, live a normal life and stuff. What would you do?"

Mudie's eyes flashed angrily for a moment. "It doesn't matter," she said, "because we'll never leave."

Shams decided to say no more.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Yaroslavl' Oblast, Russia**

The _Minerva_ and the _ReHOME_ were on the move, and for that, Athrun Zala was thankful. He stood on the gantry overlooking the silent Infinite Justice, staring pensively at the Gundam that was his power in the world. They were heading for Novorossiysk, and another battle, but that was the _Minerva_'s role in the world, and that was what gave him purpose.

He glanced up at Viveka as she approached, finding her looking pensively over at the Twilight Gundam.

"I didn't think Emily had it in her to get that mad," she said, glancing over at Athrun. "When we were growing up, she was always a pretty meek and well-behaved little girl."

Athrun looked over grimly at the Twilight's silent, dark eyes. "She was angry, because someone she cared for was killed," he said, "so she did what she normally could not." He closed his eyes. "It's a place I've been to before."

"There seem to be lots of places you've been to before," Viveka said. "What happened?"

"It's not important," Athrun answered quickly.

"It is to me," Viveka shot back. "I've told you quite a bit about myself. Some reciprocation's fair, isn't it?"

Athrun glanced at her. "It's not worth knowing," he said. "And they're all not wounds I'm ready to go opening again."

Viveka sighed and scratched the back of her head. "Okay," she sighed. "But, um, thanks for looking out for me out there."

Athrun nodded grimly. "It's what teammates do," he said. "I've lost teammates before because I wasn't able to protect them. I don't want that to happen again."

"Is that another wound you're not ready to open?" Viveka asked.

Athrun narrowed his eyes at the Infinite Justice. "It is."

—

It was cold, and night was descending, as the _Minerva_ cut through the air, heading south towards Novorossiysk. As she stepped out onto the exterior deck, Emily had a vague idea of what the _Minerva_ was going there for—to destroy an Alliance unit that was attacking Resistance troops. But in practice, all it meant was that she would be going into battle there, and soon.

Emily blinked in surprise as she found Rau Le Creuset standing on the deck, arms crossed, staring at the horizon with that ever-present tiny, knowing smile on his face.

"You had quite an ordeal the past few days," Rau observed, before she could turn and leave. "I wonder if you are feeling alright?"

"I-I'm okay," Emily said.

Rau nodded. "Certainly an eye-opening experience for you, I would presume," he continued. "But I suppose that were there any doubts in your mind previously about the lows to which the Phantom Pain will stoop, such doubts are long gone now."

Emily stared down painfully at the lights of the towns below. "...why do people do that?" she asked. "Make people like the Extended, and do things like that to them..."

"People are always seeking better weapons with which to wage war," Rau explained. "It's no surprise that we would have reached the point where human beings are dedicated and designed for the sole purpose of combat. Such a society will readily turn a life into a weapon." He glanced over at Emily with a smile. "Although it does not have to be that way."

"It doesn't...?" Emily started, suddenly feeling fear rise up through her spine.

"It goes without saying that you are gifted with extraordinary powers," Rau chuckled, looking back towards the horizon. "Powers that could change the world. Such is the gift and the curse of a Newtype."

"...but you're a Newtype too," Emily protested. "I can sense pressure from you..."

"A Newtype I am," Rau said, with a chuckle and a knowing smile, "but I'm of the old generation. And we of the old generation can't make this new world." He looked at Emily again. "That task falls on the shoulders of the new."

Emily looked back at the horizon, and struggled to push down her fear.

—

To be continued...


	20. Phase 20: Bodies and Souls

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 20 - Bodies and Souls

—

**March 8th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Ryazan Oblast, Russia**

It was one of those rare instances where knowing the truth didn't really matter. Meyrin Hawke turned the thought over in her head as she lay awake in bed, staring at the dark ceiling of her room aboard the _Minerva_. Shinn knew the truth of her sister's fate, but her sister's fate had been death—so what did it really matter that Lunamaria Hawke had merely been captured by the Orb Raiders, and joined them because only Rey Za Burrel waited for her in ZAFT if she returned?

She knew if she closed her eyes again, all she would find were nightmares. They returned every so often to remind her of the Junius War—as if she needed more reminding. They mocked her for being helpless to ever express her affections to Shinn Asuka; they mocked her for being helpless to watch Rey shoot down Luna's ZAKU; they mocked her for being helpless to do anything to save Talia Gladys—or the _Minerva_'s beleaguered XO, Arthur Trine. And now they mocked her for being as helpless as she ever was—but dressed up in the trappings of captain.

She could not help but wonder what Luna would think of her right now, wrapped in the blue overcoat of a ZAFT high officer, with Talia's old cap atop her head, sitting in Talia's chair and struggling to lead the _Minerva_ through the exploits that made some people think it had been sent by God. It was rather ironic that the pilot of the Destiny Gundam, the winged seraph that tore through the Alliance's best with impunity, was a symbol of resistance and rebellion against oppression—but the captain of the ship he spread his wings to protect was unknown. All in all, though, she had to wonder if that was a blessing disguised as a curse—since most of her comrades were shocked to find a nineteen-year-old girl in charge of the Blessed _Minerva_.

Sleep was a long ways off, clearly—and so Meyrin rose and donned her uniform, tucking her hat under her arm and making for the bridge. Abbey glanced up tiredly from the captain's chair as she entered.

"I'll take over," Meyrin said. "I can't sleep anyway."

"Are you sure?" Abbey asked, rising from the chair anyway. Meyrin nodded, and Abbey left with a salute. Meyrin slumped into the chair with a sigh, and glanced up at Burt at the sensor console in surprise.

"You're still here, Burt?"

"Manny got sick," Burt answered. "I'm covering his shift." He sat back and sipped at a Styrofoam cup of instant ramen. "Are you alright, though, captain?"

Meyrin leaned her chin wearily on her hand, letting it fall against the armrest. "The war's taking its toll on me," she said. "How do you get through it?"

Burt paused for a moment, choosing his words. "I think the people of the PLANTs deserve it," he said. "You know, all the ones who were killed by the Requiem? I'd like to think that their deaths meant something more than just enormous meaningless slaughter."

Meyrin sat back herself. "There's a lot of people being meaninglessly slaughtered these days," she said. "I wonder what Luna would think..."

—

"The output of the beam blade on the Flash-Edge 2 is adjustable," said Matt Abes as he pointed towards the screen of the Twilight Gundam, with Emily in the cockpit seat. "You can program in preset blade lengths if you draw the boomerang as a saber, like you've been doing, so you can dial down the length to a knife blade." He shrugged. "You seem to be less 'smash stuff with the sword' and more of the fencer, anyway. So at least we won't have to fix two Arondight units all the time."

"Shinn's a lot better than me anyway," Emily said quietly. Abes glanced across the hangar at the deactivated Destiny.

"Eh, he's more experienced," he answered. "Though he had the advantage of having been trained already. So for an amateur, you haven't been too bad."

"Thanks," Emily murmured quietly. She looked down at the Twilight's controls. All this power and it had still been helpless to save Kyali.

"We're on our way to Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea coast," Abes added, standing up as though to leave. "So you'd better brush up on the urban combat simulations."

"...but if we're fighting in the city, won't that just kill more people...?" Emily started. Abes shrugged again.

"It can't be helped," he said. "As long as the Alliance turns cities into battlefields, we're going to have to fight them. But we'll try not to do too much damage, for our part." He gestured to the Twilight's control panel. "That's part of what the simulation is for."

Emily glanced down at the controls again. "I just don't want to kill anymore people than I have to," she said. "I don't want to wind up like the Phantom Pain."

"You've got a long ways to go before you wind up acting like them, Emily," Abes said. "I'm going to work on the Gaia, before Stella breaks something."

—

**Heaven's Base, Iceland**

The premier of the Republic of East Asia was a towering man by the name of Shinzo Musashihara, huge and bald with a thin, neatly-cropped mustache. To other men, he might have been intimidating, but as he stood by one of the couches of his cavernous office at Heaven's Base, Lord Djibril refused to be intimidated. No one, after all, could intimidate the President of the Earth Alliance.

"I understand that these terrorists must be stopped," Shinzo said, calm and collected. "Believe me when I say so, sir. The Manchurian Death Cult blew up another subway station only yesterday." He paused to choose his words. "But what I am arguing for is that perhaps we should be more pragmatic about it. We have tried to fight the Resistance on military terms, and although they have not had many major successes against the Alliance, we have not had many major successes against the Resistance. This war has been a long and endless slaughter, and it does not appear to be going anywhere."

Lord Djibril looked away, out the yawning windows of his office. "Premier Musashihara, let me make an analogy for you," he said. "Think of the world as a body. When that body is afflicted by an infection, a doctor will prescribe antibiotics. And the patient will take those antibiotics until he feels better—and then stop, because he feels better. But the patient did not destroy all of the bacteria that caused his illness, and that last resistant strain returns to once again sicken him. And he takes the rest of his antibiotics, but finds that the medicine has no effect—because he failed to completely crush the disease in the beginning, and the last remnants of it were the ones that will be the hardest to kill now." He looked back at Shinzo. "That is the nature of our war against the Resistance, Premier. For three years, we have answered the Resistance's threats and attacks with the overwhelming force of the entire world's military apparatus. If we stop answering them with force, then we will leave those last resistant strains alive—and when they leave us no choice but to retaliate with force of our own, we will find that our conventional methods cannot stop them. We will be beset by a fleet of _Minerva_s, an army of Destiny Gundams, when we could have destroyed them all earlier."

"Djibril—" Shinzo started.

"That is why we cannot stop fighting the Resistance," Djibril said. "We must take our medicine until every last cell of the bacteria that afflicts us is destroyed."

"Djibril, East Asia simply can't sustain such industrial output," Shinzo protested. "The mobile armor factory lines in Sichuan shut down last December—"

"And I'm still disappointed that you haven't resolved that," Djibril interrupted. "This war is no time for a strike. I thought East Asia had little patience for strikers."

"It was a campaign promise of mine to wield a softer hand against strikers," Shinzo explained. "I was elected—"

"Irrelevant," Djibril snapped. "Everything will be irrelevant if we do not destroy the Resistance," he scowled, "and preserve our blue and clean world."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Tambov Oblast, Russia**

"I understand how it works, Kisato," Athrun said tiredly into his headset as he worked on the Infinite Justice. "What I want to know is why Lowe wants to install a giant drill on the Justice."

"I don't know!" Kisato protested, from her chair on the bridge of the _ReHOME_. "He must have seen it on a TV show or something. He kept muttering about 'spiral power' and 'kicking reason to the curb.'"

"Well, he wanted to install a complete sound system too, so I could play Lacus Clyne music in the middle of combat," Athrun added. "But if you keep saying he's a genius..."

"I know, sometimes I wonder too," Kisato admitted on the other end. "But he's kept the Red Frame running since '71."

"He could just be lucky," Athrun said with a shrug. "I knew people who were that unfairly lucky."

"And he's still off on mounting one of the Destiny's Palma Fiocina guns into the Red Frame," she complained. "What _is_ a 'shining finger' anyway? And why just the finger?"

"You're asking me to decipher the workings of the mind of Lowe Gear," Athrun deadpanned.

"He's not driving you guys crazy over there, is he?" Kisato asked. Athrun smiled thinly.

"We'd rather have him on our side than theirs." He paused to adjust a setting in the Justice's OS. "Besides, we've dealt with worse—like that time that Stella got into Roxy's liquor cabinet and downed half a bottle of vodka before realizing that it wasn't water."

"Um, wow," Kisato said with a start. "I feel kinda sorry for her."

"Everyone did," Athrun said, smiling in spite of himself, "especially when she discovered what a hangover is the next morning." He paused, his smile fading. "Uh, about these Canus missile launchers you gave us..."

"What about them?"

"Did the missiles already come with smiley faces painted on the fuselage?"

The sigh on the other end was the only answer Athrun needed.

—

It was good to be out of the Twilight's cockpit for once. Shinn had finally relented a bit on her otherwise relentless training regimen, since she had some experience and enough skill to not die against the Rosso Aegis's formidable pilot. And since that left Emily with nothing else to do, she was taking the opportunity to wander around the ship and look for something to do.

She blinked in surprise as she rounded a corner and found Lowe Gear there, looking lost and slightly confused but also a bit more excited than most people would be. He put on a glowing smile as he caught sight of Emily.

"Oh, didn't see ya there!" he said, sticking his hand out amiably for a handshake that Emily hesitantly returned. "The name's Lowe Gear! You must be the new girl."

"I-I guess," Emily started.

"Hey, are you getting along with Shinn?" Lowe asked suddenly. "He can be kind of a dick if he's in a bad mood. Just thought I should warn ya."

Emily blinked again. "Um...I've, uh, yet to catch him in a bad mood," she said. "But I don't really know anything about him anyway..."

"Yeah, I'd imagine that's by design," Lowe said with a shrug. "I've heard some stories, though. I know he was in ZAFT, but then he left."

"That's why they call him the traitor Asuka," Emily said quietly.

"Well," Lowe put in, "I don't know about that. To some people he might be a traitor, yeah, but loyalty and treachery are all matters of perspective, y'know? Some people are angry at him for leaving ZAFT, but some people couldn't care less. So I guess it doesn't really matter either way." He shrugged again. "He doesn't come across to me as a bad guy or anything. He fights to protect the people he cares about, and I don't see anything wrong with that."

"...he's better at it than me," Emily added, looking down sadly at the floor.

Lowe paused for a moment. "No," he said, "no he's not." Emily looked back up in surprise. "He's...lost friends too. I hear you had a rough past few days, and I'm sorry 'bout it all, but believe me when I say that Shinn Asuka knows how you feel." He sighed. "Shinn used to roll with a bunch of space pirates. They were all slaughtered to a man in battle after Shinn had been defeated." Emily gasped in disbelief, at both the thought of Shinn losing everything he fought for at once, and the thought of Shinn Asuka, defeated. "But Shinn's led a pretty eventful life..." His eyes lit up. "Hey, they gave you a Gundam, didn't they?"

"Um, they did," Emily started.

"Then you have to show it to me!" Lowe insisted, with more exuberance than his previous behavior might have suggested he had.

"But they just put it together out of spare parts for the Destiny," Emily protested.

"That doesn't matter!" Lowe said, grabbing Emily by the shoulders excitedly. "They might have used a different technique! Or the operating system would be different! Yeah, it would have to be! And maybe they used different components! As a junker, I can't just pass up an opportunity like this! I must see it! I must _know!_" He grabbed Emily's wrist. "Don't just stand there, time's a-wastin'!"

Emily yelped in surprise as Lowe dragged her off towards the hangar.

—

"Would you be proud of me?"

The question went unanswered, of course, as it always did. Shinn, lying awake in bed and staring at the ceiling, knew better than to expect an answer. And he was not even sure who he was expecting an answer from.

He could ask that question of his parents, of course, but he could already hear the answers—his father, berating him for abandoning Uzumi Nara Athha's policies and Orb itself, fighting in a war, continuing the cycle of killing that Uzumi spent his time in the pulpit of Orb politics denouncing; his mother, berating him for recklessly throwing himself through the face of enemy fire to smash warships and tear mobile suits in two, absolutely heedless of his own safety. They would not be proud of him. They would not understand. Everyone who did something difficult would console themselves with the thought that their parents would understand, but Shinn could not fool himself into believing that. They did not have the minds to understand why he had led his life to this point.

Mayu, he supposed, might have understood—although Shinn was unsure if the genes that had turned him into a Newtype had ever found their way into her DNA. Not that it mattered—she was but a child, and her greatest concern would be Shinn's safety, the one thing he seemed to have no concern for as he fought. She did not have the mind to understand.

The thought that Rey might be proud of him was laughable. Rey hated him, and died with that hatred in his heart—and Shinn had watched him die, with hatred in his heart, looming over the remains of his friend, Lunamaria. Fate had driven them apart, and even though Rey had been a Newtype, he did not have the mind to understand.

Of course, he knew Kika was proud.

Shinn never understood what Kika saw to be proud of in the man that the Earth Alliance called "the Wings of Light." He had never set out to be a symbol—and yet his memories took him back to the tarmac at Poljarny, surrounded by those who looked to him for hope.

But his entire life was built on his failures, not his successes. He had failed to protect his family, because he had had no power—and so he had joined ZAFT and become a famous ace, protecting Gilbert Dullindal. He had failed to tolerate the Newtype dogma of his comrades, and abandoned ZAFT to become a famous ace in the underworld. He had failed to protect his friends on the _Kasselheim_, and joined the Orb Raiders, where his exploits on the battlefield taught the world to fear the wings of light. He had failed to stop the war from finding a way to end in disaster, and had joined the Resistance to set right that last and most terrible mistake. His most recent failure had been to protect Emily from the torture chambers of the Phantom Pain—and he could only guess how fate would spin that into a basis for fame.

"It's interesting," Shinn said quietly, "that everyone talks about my successes, when it's my failures that made me famous."

—

**Earth Alliance Novaya Perspektiva Maximum Security Prison, Vorkuta, Russia**

The screams were almost deafening.

It was the ninth taser burst of the session for Esteban Chavez, former leader of the Free Peru Front in South America. He had had the misfortune of being captured by the Phantom Pain in battle, and brought here to let the prison work its magic on his perspective on global politics. Sadly, the sleep deprivation and beatings and tasers and water buckets had not drawn much information out of him—because, his interrogators suspected, he had little information to surrender.

But to the observer—who could only smile as the ninth taser burst subsided and Esteban Chavez slumped to the floor, dead—that did not in any way diminish the fun of what could be done here.

Field Marshal Crayt Markav was the terrifying dark-haired woman whose sinister eyes watched behind thick, dark sunglasses as the soldiers ascertained the fact that Mr. Chavez was dead. But Crayt could already tell—the flickering light of his life had gone out, pricking her Newtype senses and delighting her to watch another sin-ridden soul torn from its mortal coil, to descend to hell, where it would truly understand the price of challenging God.

"It doesn't appear that he knew much to begin with," said the major at Markav's side, crossing his arms as the soldiers in the cell dragged Chavez's body out. "Fortunately, the Free Peru Front isn't nearly as big a problem in South America as, say, Ed the Ripper."

"Ed the Ripper..." Crayt repeated. "Certainly a man I would love to have in this facility." She glanced over at the major. "That will be all, major. You are dismissed."

The officer saluted and disappeared around a corner—only to make way for a younger soldier to appear next with a sharp salute of his own.

"Major, you requested to be updated on the _Minerva_'s whereabouts?" the soldier began.

"I did indeed," Crayt said. "Are you here to provide such an update?"

"The _Minerva_ is in Tambov Oblast, heading south towards Volgograd. The _Charlemagne_ is shadowing them. We believe their intention may be to turn southwest and assist the Resistance units around Novorossiysk."

"Tambov..." Crayt murmured. "I could reach them from here..." She looked up at the soldier. "Prepare my Euclid. I would like to see just how powerful the Blessed _Minerva_ is."

"Yes ma'am," the soldier said, saluting and scurrying away. Crayt did not bother to hide the thin smile on her lips as she bowed her head.

"_От имени отца, и Сына, и Святого Духа_," she murmured, casting the sign of the cross over her chest. "I thank you, God, for granting me this opportunity to serve You."

With that, she whirled around and swept out of the room.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Tambov Oblast, Russia**

"Field Marshal Markav herself," Danilov said ominously, arms crossed as he stood over the comm officer's console and read the message on the screen. "She's launched in her personal mobile armor, and she means to join us and attack the _Minerva_."

"But she's launching all the way out from Vorkuta," Vera protested. "Captain, does she seriously mean to—?"

"Marshal Markav makes no bones about what she plans to do," Danilov cut her off. "Lest I remind you of her promise in CE 75 to burn Hyderabad to the ground if they didn't turn over Rashid Abdulmalik." He scowled. "Seventy-five thousand people paid with their lives for the mistake of not taking her seriously."

Vera shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "But to think that the commander of the Phantom Pain would involve herself with this..." She shook her head. "I don't see why she would. Do they not trust us now?"

"I doubt that is the case," Danilov said, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "Otherwise we would not have been redeployed alone from Vilnius. But making sense of Marshal Markav's decisions is a futile endeavor."

"Captain, the Marshal is requesting that the _Charlemagne_ support her," the comm officer interjected.

"Will we?" Vera asked.

Danilov scoffed. "We can't very well turn down a request from the commander of the Phantom Pain," he said. "Tell the quartermaster to prepare a room and hangar space. We're going to be having a guest."

—

**March 9th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Tambov Oblast, Russia**

The hero of the Resistance was a strange man to behold in person. He was, honestly, still more of a boy than a man—although the lifetime of experiences behind him in his relatively brief existence in the Earth Sphere were all the testament one needed as to his maturity.

Standing on the _Minerva_'s exterior deck, the sun casting its light across the three scars on his face, Shinn appeared to Roxy to be far too young for everything he had seen in his lifetime.

"I notice that whenever we go out and you get mobbed by adoring, horny fangirls," she started quietly, "you never take any of them up on their offers. Why is that?"

Shinn was silent a moment. "It's complicated," he said.

"It's always complicated with you," Roxy answered with a half-smile. "It's not for Stella, is it? I can't imagine you two have a relationship like that."

"We don't," Shinn said flatly. "Kika was right about that. I can't even imagine doing that with Stella. It wouldn't feel right."

"I guess not," Roxy agreed. "But...that can't be very healthy." She glanced over at him again. "Nineteen years old and you're suppressing your sex drive like that, it'd drive most people nuts."

Shinn arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you trying to get me in bed?"

"I dunno, Mr. Wings of Light. Am I?"

For a moment, Shinn was silent, staring pensively at the horizon. "It wouldn't be such a big deal if I wasn't so sensitive to emotion," he said. "But even if I don't see sex as some kind of big emotional investment, that doesn't mean that the other person doesn't. And it doesn't help that the girls who throw themselves at me are all full of intense emotions already."

"So you can kill people, but you can't have sex with 'em," Roxy finished. "That sucks."

"Welcome to my world," Shinn sighed. He paused for a moment. "And no, I'm not going to have to sex with you."

"Well, damn," Roxy laughed. "And here I wanted to know whether you're really so skilled at maneuvering that Arondight of yours."

Shinn blinked for a moment. "Oh, well _thanks,_" he grumbled. "Now when Abes mentions the Destiny's Arondight to me again, I'm going to think of that, and it'll be all awkward. Thanks a lot."

Roxy shot back a grin. "What else are friends for?"

—

The Chaos Gundam's CIWS panels slammed shut, and from the gantry in front of the silent machine, Sting Oakley heaved a sigh. He glanced over at Auel and Vino, standing next to him at the controls of the crane as it finished reloading the Chaos's CIWS.

"So you were modifying the Chaos's beam rifle," Sting said. "What'd you do with it?"

"There were partial blueprints in the Chaos's computer," Vino explained, glancing down at his clipboard, "and those Junk Guild guys helped fill them out. The Chaos's rifle can switch into a phonon maser weapon." He looked up at the Chaos. "Of course, that's not very helpful when the Chaos can't work underwater, but we'll wait until we get to Carpentaria to modify it for that."

"You're going to make the Chaos amphibious?" Sting asked. "Don't we have the Abyss to do that?"

"Yeah, 'cuz we all know I just _love_ sitting underwater all by myself getting shot at," Auel snorted.

"It wouldn't hurt to have our units be more versatile," Vino said. He glanced distastefully over his shoulder, across the hangar, at the Destiny. "Since even Mr. Fantastic over there is capable of failing."

Sting and Auel glanced at each other awkwardly. "What's up with you and Shinn anyway?" Auel ventured. "I mean, he's not _that_ bad—"

"You weren't in ZAFT," Vino said with a scowl. "I guess you wouldn't understand what it is to have the hero of your army betray you and get your friends killed."

"Well, yeah," Sting agreed, "but still, sooner or later you're going to have to deal with it."

Vino glared up at the two Extended. "Will forgiving him bring Lunamaria Hawke back from the dead?"

Sting and Auel glanced at each other. "Uh, no," Sting started.

"Then I'm not going to bother," Vino finished. He turned and stalked away, leaving Sting and Auel behind to stare after him awkwardly.

—

"So was any of this really necessary," Viveka asked, standing with Athrun on the gantry before the Savior Gundam, "or do those Junk Guild guys just get off on building mobile suit upgrades?"

"Sometimes I think it's a little of both," Athrun said with a shrug. "But they've modified the Savior with hardpoints for large missiles and bombs, and all sorts of munitions to take advantage of the Savior's mobile armor mode. They unloaded ordnance for us as well, so the Savior's role has been shifted more towards an assault orientation."

Viveka glanced awkwardly over her shoulder. "Guess I have to learn how to bomb stuff now?" she asked.

Athrun crossed his arms. "You seem to be a skilled enough pilot to learn on the fly," he answered. "But it wouldn't hurt."

"Well, thank you," Viveka laughed, throwing her mechanical arm around Athrun's shoulders, ignoring his surprised flinch. "Always nice to hear some praise!" She glanced over at the dour Coordinator. "Besides, there's something appealing about being able to drop hundreds of pounds of explosives on people."

Athrun's eyes dimmed, and Viveka's smile faded in confusion. "It's not like that," he said. "With these Gundams...we have the power to destroy people's lives. And...I don't find it very fun." He shook his head. "Anyone who's ever felt powerless and shed tears of loss has wanted the kind of power we have. But now that we have that power, we're the ones who can make people feel so powerless."

Viveka studied him for a moment. "Sounds like someone's been powerless before," she said. "It's not fun, is it?"

Athrun looked over at her. "No," he said, "it's not."

"Well, I'm not going to go all crazy and slaughter people," Viveka said. "That's what the Phantom Pain does, and if I was out doing that, I might as well put on the jackboots and join them. I'm not going to turn out like them."

"I know," Athrun said, looking back up at the Savior. "I just don't want our power to wind up making people feel the way I felt." He narrowed his eyes. "That's not what I'm fighting for."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Tambov Oblast, Russia**

Sven Cal Bayan was a man of discipline. He could boast of control over the urges that had enslaved other men, and had the discipline not to boast of it either. As such, even considering how Mudie dressed specifically to stimulate those urges in her less disciplined and cynical comrades, he was unfazed by the numerous attempts of female comrades to hit on him.

Nonetheless, it tended to get annoying. And even with Lieutenant Junior Grade Irene Ramos of the Phantom Pain only on a screen in front of him, with her physical person safely far away at Japan's Yokosuka Naval Station, he could tell that she was doing her damnedest to push his buttons.

She was beautiful, of course—but this mission called for that. A luscious blonde with her flaxen hair cast seductively over one shimmering blue eye, shapely and voluptuous, she would be perfect for worming her way into the confidence of Gerhardt von Oldendorf. And that would surely lead only to more information about this mysterious Emily. Pulling rank in the Phantom Pain could be a wonderful thing.

"Do you understand your mission, Lieutenant Ramos?" Sven asked, expertly ignoring the way she had unbuttoned her shirt enough to display more of her ample cleavage than Sven had really wanted to see. That was why he was sending her on this mission, but he knew it was there and didn't need to see it. "Gerhardt may be initially suspicious of a Phantom Pain attaché, but his appetites are his weakness, and I'm sure you will be able to exploit them."

"It's everyone's weakness, Captain Bayan," Irene purred, shifting in her chair for what seemed like the sole purpose of jiggling her breasts. Even Sven had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"Maintain the encrypted channel to funnel information to me," he instructed. "Military necessity for information about his daughter outweighs the Director's desire for privacy around his family life." He sat back, indicating that he was finished. "Any questions?"

"Well, I _was_ wondering when you would find your way back to Yokosuka," Irene said, leaning forward—much to Sven's annoyance. "Was our parting that bitter?"

"My answer remains the same now as it was then," Sven said tersely. "A relationship between officers of the Phantom Pain is inappropriate."

"You're no fun," Irene sighed. "But my door is always open—"

"And I'm sure many men will be through to experience your hospitality," Sven cut her off, "but I have more important matters to attend to. Keep your mission in mind. Bayan, out."

The screen went dark, and Sven finally allowed himself an irritated sigh.

—

It was all irrelevant noise to the ears of Mudie Holcroft as she stood on the gantry overlooking her silent Blu Duel, in the _Charlemagne_'s hangar, arms crossed. It was definitely cold in here—the hangar was purposely kept cold to keep delicate machinery cool. And it didn't help that she wasn't even wearing the full Phantom Pain uniform—instead she had opted for the shirt, buttoned up just over her midriff, with the sleeves cut off and the slacks replaced by a pair of blue jeans.

She looked down at herself—a doll for the amusement of the men. That was what she had been in training—used for the amusement of the men. The suffering and pain and work she had put in to earn her spot in the Phantom Pain had been irrelevant in the face of pure lust and lack of discipline.

But now she was what they wanted her to be—a doll for their amusement. They could have their fill and she would not have to deal with them—it was the best of both worlds. And instead, they called her a whore and made lewd jokes.

Well, sticks and stones, she figured.

She looked down at the Blu Duel. Humans did not understand her, or did not care to understand her, but with the Blu Duel, she had power. People were forced to respect and fear her. Such was the life of a mobile suit pilot—once behind the armor of the machine, she was powerful.

And so she rubbed her shoulders and wished she could be back inside her Blu Duel.

—

The machine in question was a Euclid mobile armor, painted white where the standard model was painted gray. It bore a strange cross on the left side of its fuselage—with three bars, the bottom of which was slanted. But the woman in its cockpit was the most imposing part of all.

Crayt Markav sat back and closed her eyes as the Euclid cruised in towards the _Charlemagne_. Somewhere to the south, she could feel pressure—from Newtypes. There were four points. One of them she could identify—that was the mighty Wings of Light, Shinn Asuka, bane of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT and whoever else raised arms against him. And the second, somewhat weaker, was Athrun Zala—boy hero of the PLANTs, the soldier who had fought for and against everyone.

The third was Rau Le Creuset. Crayt scowled at the feeling. No one but God had the right to decide the course of the world. Rau Le Creuset was not God.

The fourth point, however...Crayt frowned, reaching back into the repository of her memory.

_Project Evolution_, she thought bitterly. _So this is where you went._ She scowled. _To think such a powerful weapon has fallen into the hands of Rau Le Creuset..._

She clenched her fists around the Euclid's controls as the mobile armor eased into the _Charlemagne_'s sprawling hangar.

_Well, you will know the wrath of God soon enough_.

—

To be continued...


	21. Phase 21: Rules of Engagement

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

Note: If you can spot the _Twin Peaks_ reference, you just might be awesome.

Edit 3/6/2011: I swear to God I am so tired of FFN's constant formatting issues. For those of you who noticed that my dividers changed position about halfway through the chapter, that's been fixed now. Sorry.

—

Phase 21 - Rules of Engagement

—

**March 9th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Volgograd Oblast, Russia**

"Marshal," greeted Ivan Danilov with a sharp salute on the bridge of the _Charlemagne,_ "I must say I'm surprised you're here, but nevertheless, welcome aboard the _Charlemagne_."

Crayt Markav returned Danilov's salute distractedly and glanced out the bridge windows. "There is a loose end here that I wish to confirm," she said, "and is such that I must confirm it for myself, in person. I'm sure you understand."

"Of course," lied Danilov.

"I understand you have been exercising caution in your pursuit of the _Minerva_," Crayt continued. "That is probably tactically wise, but Lord Djibril has flooded my office with angry messages demanding that you be bolder. Caution does not play well with either Djibril or the public."

"I understand, ma'am," Danilov said, "but neither Djibril nor the public have to actually fight the _Minerva_—_"_

"That has never stopped politicians from meddling in the affairs of soldiers before," Crayt said, stepping forward and crossing her arms. "I will lead your next attack personally, but the ship is yours until then. The _Minerva_ has some interesting pilots," she smiled, "and I'd like to meet them."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Volgograd Oblast, Russia**

"If we don't do something about the _Charlemagne_," Meyrin warned, sitting back in the _Minerva_'s captain's chair, "then they're going to follow us all the way to Novorossiysk. And if our goal there is to save the Resistance forces there from the Alliance, I don't see how dragging the _Charlemagne_ in with us helps."

On the _ReHOME_, the Professor sat back, wreathed in cigarette smoke. "So what do you want to do about it? Last time you guys tried to fight them, it didn't go very well for either of you."

"That ship seems less designed for ship-to-ship combat and more as a mobile fortress," Abbey pointed out. "So we'd need a much larger force than what we've got now to assault it."

"I don't want to assault it," Meyrin said. "I want it to go away. So we need to distract them somehow and tie them up, while we slip off to Novorossiysk."

"You'd need an army to do that too," the Professor pointed out.

"Roxy, bring up a list of known Resistance units around Volgograd Oblast," Meyrin instructed. "There's got to be someone here who could slow them down. If it's really necessary, I think we can stop and attack them preemptively."

"There's Colonel Chekhov's brigade," Roxy droned, pausing for a shot of rum. "In Volgograd, the city. Bunch of crazies, though. Says they took in some of the Nokhchiin Guardians after they got all exploded in '76."

"Well, we're getting close to Volgograd," the Professor said, "so if that's what you want to do, you'd better decide quick."

"Then that's where we'll land," Meyrin answered. "We'll take stock and meet with Chekhov," she sighed, "and hope he's not one of _those_ Resistance leaders."

—

The CGUE leapt out from behind a battered, ruined office complex, brandishing its machinegun—the Twilight Gundam whirled around, and Emily squinted as the CGUE pummeled it with bullets, before plowing through the shots and running the gray ZAFT machine through on the Twilight's beam saber. Instinct screamed as she threw the Twilight's beam shield up to defend—an instant before a quartet of shells slammed into it, driving the Twilight back through the asphalt.

"Not giving me a break, are you...?" Emily murmured, scanning the streets and finding a ZuOOT charging towards her, smoke curling off the barrels of its overhead cannons. A pair of GINNs wielding machineguns were jogging in next to it, supported from behind by a 105 Dagger. The Twilight charged, ducking around the Dagger's beam blasts and picking it off with a long cannon blast. The ZuOOT fired again—the Twilight blocked the shells with its beam shield, lunging down out of the smoke and ripping the ZuOOT in two with a saber blow, and following up with a pair of fluid strikes to the supporting GINNs.

"Why am I fighting GINNs and stuff...?" she asked idly. "Shouldn't I be fighting Windams?"

"There's only so much the Windam can do," explained the voice of Shinn Asuka. "Against different kinds of mobile suits, you have to be ready for anything."

To punctuate his point, a shimmering yellow beam came streaking out of the heavens—the Twilight somersaulted over it, and Emily spotted a Buster Dagger amidst the skyscrapers, leveling off its cannon for another blow. She drew her beam rifle and picked it off with a single shot, before whirling around to duck under a BuCUE's railgun blast and spear it on another rifle shot.

"But," Shinn added, "if you really wanna fight Windams..."

The sky lit up with beam fire as a quartet of Slaughter Windams came shrieking out of the sky, beam rifles blazing.

"I was just asking," Emily groaned, taking cover behind her beam shield and firing back. The Windams scattered—the Twilight lunged up into the air, activating its beam wings to saw two of them in half. As they exploded, she whirled around to take down the third with a beam blast to the back, and as the fourth came charging towards her, she narrowed her eyes. "It's not this easy for real."

With a crash, she planted her saber into the Windam's cockpit and watched it collapse towards the ground and explode.

"I think that's about it for today," Shinn said with a sigh, as the screens went dark and the Twilight Gundam's cockpit yawned open. "You're getting better at negotiating the urban environment."

Emily emerged onto the gantry with a sigh as the simulation software shut down, glancing tiredly over at Shinn. "I wonder if I'll be able to make a difference." She shook her head. "I couldn't even save Kyali..."

"Do you want to continue fighting?" Shinn asked, leaning against the rail next to her.

"I have to," Emily answered, glancing around the hangar. "The _Minerva_ is my home now...and I have to protect it."

Shinn's face flickered for a moment in pain. "You don't have to feel that way," he warned, "and you shouldn't feel like all you can do here is fight." His eyes darkened. "I used to think that way, and I wound up not being as powerful as I thought I was."

Emily thought back to Lowe Gear's words, and looked away awkwardly. "How come you care so much about me?"

Shinn looked back at her. "Why shouldn't I?"

—

"Y'know," Auel Neider began tiredly, slumped on one end of the table in the crew lounge, "most people are a little too concerned with the relative nutritional value of that stuff to be eating it so enthusiastically."

Across the table, with a Styrofoam cup of piping hot instant ramen, Stella looked up blankly with a tangle of soggy noodles hanging from her mouth. "But Stella's hungry..." she started.

"It's either this or these microwavable sandwich pastry things," Sting pointed out with a shrug, staring down at his own aforementioned microwavable sandwich pastry thing. "Since apparently we can't get Athrun to cook for us every day." He glanced at Stella. "Besides, if she can eat this stuff without thinking about how it'll solidify her arteries, more power to her."

Auel sighed as Stella happily slurped up the rest of the noodles and giggled at the errant drops of soup. "They're stopping in Volgograd," he said. "Maybe we can pick some stuff up there? I dunno. What's good in Russian cuisine?"

"Vodka," Sting said. "But you tried that and didn't like it."

"Well excuse me for not having a superhuman metabolism."

"Why are we stopping...?" Stella asked, looking up from the soupy remnants of her ramen.

"We're trying to shake that enemy ship that's been following us," Sting said. "Trying, at least."

Stella paused for a moment. "Will we have to fight...?"

"Probably," Auel answered.

Silence reigned as Stella glanced aside. "...Stella hopes Emily's okay..."

—

**Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast, Russia**

Colonel Chekhov could only be described as a man in the context of ancient legends that routinely described mythical gods and kings and warriors as having proportions and bodies unheard of by modern science. To all others, he was less of a man and more of a fortress with legs. The towering Colonel Chekhov, swathed in camouflage pants and a dark blue bridge coat, adorned with a scar on his left cheek, looked down neutrally at Meyrin Hawke, Abbey Windsor, Gai Murakumo, and the Professor under the shade of a tent on the forested outskirts of Volgograd, surrounded by mobile suits and armored vehicles belonging to Chekhov's forces.

And, Meyrin noted, it was hard to deny that she felt very, very intimidated.

"First of all," Meyrin began, pushing aside the intimidation, "thank you for meeting with us on such short notice. I realize it must be difficult to move here undetected."

"The Alliance's presence is minimal in Volgograd," Chekhov explained with a thin smile. "We have been able to amass a considerable military force here." He paused. "I presume you have some connection to the Resistance's leaders, so if you would please enlighten me as to what it is Chiao Xu is up to..."

"He wants to start moving units to Carpentaria to marshal a force for attacking Heaven's Base," explained Gai. "Your unit is undoubtedly on that list."

Chekhov frowned. "That would mean abandoning our fight against the Alliance here."

"Chiao Xu's strategy calls for a decisive strike to destroy the Alliance's government," Gai replied.

"What we need right now, though," Meyrin added, "is your help in distracting the _Charlemagne_. We need to get to Novorossiysk to help the Resistance units there, but if we have the _Charlemagne_ on our tail when we get there, it'll be dangerous. So we need your help to tie them up here."

Chekhov scratched his chin. "Against a unit like that, it will be difficult," he mumbled. "I have sixty mobile suits, twenty-three artillery pieces, seventeen helicopters, sixty-three armored vehicles, and about fifteen hundred infantry. I'm not sure what I can do while preserving those numbers for action at Heaven's Base."

"We just need to damage them enough to keep them from following us," Abbey put in.

"But such an attack would surely cause reprisals," Chekhov protested.

The Professor chuckled. "A Resistance leader who doesn't fight for fear of being shot at isn't much of a Resistance leader."

Chekhov purpled. "My men are Chechens," he growled. "They have fought for generations to be free and will not run away." He looked back at Meyrin. "Very well, captain. We have a deal."

Meyrin held back a sigh of relief. "Thank you, colonel," she said, casting a glance at the Professor. "And I'm sure your men will not disappoint."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Volgograd Oblast, Russia**

The noise mattered not to Crayt Markav, watching impassively from the bridge as the _Charlemagne_ eased into the docks in Volgograd's sprawling river port. The ship shuddered as it fell into place, and Crayt cast her forbidding eyes over the grim tableau of the city of Volgograd.

_She _was out there. Something would have to be done about that. It had been a mistake, a sin, for that child to have even been conceived—but there was no going back now. The only way to end this problem was while it was still small—while _she_ could still be killed.

_It is a special kind of misfortune,_ she thought venomously, _that you should have been born into such a world and such a life...but the world will not be cleansed until your kind are nothing more than dust._ She scowled. _And to think that such power lies at the fingertips of Rau Le Creuset..._ She was unsure of just how much Rau knew of the font of wrath lying in his reach, but she had no doubt that he was, at the very least, on the scent—and sooner or later he would realize just what power Project Evolution had conferred upon that pathetic little girl.

Crayt glanced over her shoulder, finding Captain Danilov approaching. "Captain," she said quietly as Danilov saluted, "do you remember Gilbert Dullindal's speech about Newtypes?"

"Yes ma'am," he answered dutifully. "It was right before Solomon's Sword."

Crayt hid her scowl. "What if I told you that Gilbert Dullindal was not the first person to notice people with such powers—but that research on the beings now known as Newtypes has been going on for almost twenty years?" She glanced back at Danilov. "Would you believe me?"

"I-I would have no reason not to," Danilov started.

"Ignore that I am your commander," Crayt added. "If I were just a person on the street, would you believe such a claim?"

Danilov paused uncomfortably. "I would be hard-pressed, ma'am."

Crayt looked back out towards Volgograd. "Then imagine, if you will, captain, a child born in the year CE 61." She paused, glancing again at Danilov. "A tumultuous time, if you may recall. The nations of Earth were in the middle of an arms race, as the PLANTs grew restive and violent. The world was clearly edging towards war, but it was also clearly in no mood to wage one. All eyes were turned towards the future." Another pause. "Such would be a fine time to establish a clandestine weapons program.

"Now, imagine this child exhibiting strange powers," Crayt continued. "The reflexes of a Coordinator but the genetic composition of a Natural. An uncanny ability to, so it seems, see the future. Mankind has forever strived to have that power, the power of creatures that today we call Newtypes. Why, it would not be unreasonable to assume that the military would find this child, and recognize the potential that lay in those powers." She smiled. "Such a person would make a fine soldier, no?

"And so, Captain Danilov," Crayt went on, "you can surely imagine a child trained since infancy to be a living weapon, honed and disciplined into a soldier like no other, and then hidden in society, with its training and memories submerged into its subconscious, to be reawakened the day its political and military masters decide to unleash their ultimate weapon on their unsuspecting adversaries. Squirreled away where none will find it, with training and abilities hidden in a body that none would suspect..." Her thin smile flashed feral. "Tell me, captain, if you were looking for such a child...would you think to check the household staff of Lord Djibril?"

Danilov blinked in disbelief. "M-Marshal," he started, "I'm sure you're aware of the intelligence on the _Minerva_'s new—"

"I am aware, captain," Crayt said, smiling venomously. "I am aware of everything."

"You...you don't mean to suggest that...that girl is—"

Crayt's smile widened just a touch. "Have you wondered how an amateur pilot like her could not only survive in battle against our best, but defeat such seasoned pilots as Kenta Shoyou and Harris Meyers?" She chuckled softly to herself. "Wonder no more, Captain Danilov, and feel no shame—for you are fighting the fruits of Project Evolution."

"M-Marshal—" Danilov began.

"Established in CE 61, with the goal of cultivating a Newtype super-soldier to counter both the PLANTs and the Eurasian Federation's Earthbound rivals," Crayt went on, her grin turning wicked, "with training and powers submerged in her mind, to more effectively hide her and incubate her until her awakening as the conquering sword of our federation." She turned to look at Danilov. "That is why I am here, captain. To verify your foe—and to enlighten you, for after all, Project Evolution was a secret of the highest order in the Eurasian Federation." She turned again, back towards Volgograd. "But she is unstable. Her training and memories cannot assimilate into her mind, with her brain chemistry working as it is now. She was supposed to be in incubation for two more years. She was awakened too soon. Such is the price that she must pay when her very existence is a sin."

Danilov looked out in disbelief at Volgograd as the pieces came together.

"But," Crayt continued, grinning darkly as she stepped closer to the window, "I can _feel_ you out there, Unit Zero-One."

Danilov stared brokenly at Crayt. "You mean, marshal," he said haltingly, "that the Eurasian Federation trained that girl from birth to be a Newtype super soldier, but she escaped their influence somehow and joined the Resistance?"

Crayt only laughed. "My, how that plan has gone awry," she said with a smile. "Have you forgotten the words of the good book?" She looked back out across the city. "'Vengeance is mine; I will repay, sayeth the Lord.'"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Volgograd**

"Well, there's the _Charlemagne,_" Burt said uneasily, as the huge heat signature of the Alliance's massive warship pulsed in the Volgograd dock. "They appear to have docked, but I can't tell what they're up to over there...although I can only imagine it has something to do with blowing us up."

Meyrin, the Professor, and the mountainous Colonel Chekhov shared a grim glance. "That ship is extremely powerful," Chekhov warned, "and it has brought some of the Phantom Pain's best pilots to Volgograd. My men are experienced and capable, but they cut their teeth on the Alliance's regular forces." He paused, glancing around the bridge. "Although fighting alongside the _Minerva_ may bring an inestimable morale boost..."

"We'll join you in whatever attack we make," Meyrin assured him. "But if the Alliance knows as little of your presence here as you say, then you have the advantage of surprise, and can sneak in close to the ship and do a lot of damage."

"Besides, as long as the mobile suits do the fighting, the _Charlemagne_ isn't so scary," the Professor added.

Chekhov studied the scene for a moment. "My men can attack during the night," he said. "We do not wish to draw reprisals on Volgograd, but we have sufficient forces to attack the port and be upon them before they know what's hitting them." He glanced at Meyrin. "Provided the _Minerva_'s Gundams are in support."

"They wouldn't have it any other way," answered Meyrin.

—

"_You've outlived your usefulness, Kyali!_"

What a sentence. It ran through Emily's mind as she curled up in her bed on the _Minerva_, trying and failing to sleep, as Abes had suggested she do. She saw instead Kyali's damaged Strike E, held in the Twilight's strong arms—and cut down by the Rosso Aegis. How could a person be so cruel?

But the cruelty of her fate was matched only by the cruelty of her life—of those who had turned her into an Extended in the first place. She thought back to their first meeting, in the snow in Murmansk—where Kyali had been merely a strange but otherwise innocent girl, playing in the snow. The rest of the memories were too painful—of angry mobile suit duels, of torture and rescue, of the pain of failure.

She thought back to what Lowe Gear had said—that Shinn had been at this point before, faced with the painful paradox that he was so powerful, and yet his power could not save those he wanted to protect. And that raised an interesting point. What good were these powers if they could not save Kyali?

Emily's mind wandered back to that miserable night spent in this same bed, writhing in agony as she felt Kyali's agony a hundredfold, over the horizon—and she tried to wonder who could be so cruel.

—

"I know I've said it before," Auel said as he sipped a mug of piping coffee, "but when this war's over, you and I are opening a restaurant."

Across the table, Athrun Zala looked down sheepishly at his own coffee. "I'll think about it."

Nearby, Sting and Viveka glanced at each other. "Well, one thing's for sure," Sting said, taking a sip of his own. "_Damn_ good coffee. Is cooking part of the whole 'Coordinator enhancement' thing?"

Athrun smiled sadly, as old memories surfaced. "No," he said. "An old friend taught me everything he knew about coffee. I'll never be as good at it as he was, but at least his legacy lives on."

Auel snorted in amusement. "Living at Heliopolis must put all kinds of crazy complexes in your head. Do you compulsively clean too?"

"Hey, watch it," Athrun answered with a smirk, "or you'll never see that chicken parmesan you liked so much again."

Auel shut up, while Sting snickered and took another sip of coffee. Viveka glanced between them, wondering why Athrun was so closed around her.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Volgograd**

By no normal measure was the man before her a spy—indeed, dressed simply in an understated blue coat, a white shirt, and blue jeans, with a square and nondescript face, he was as simple and unassuming as simple and unassuming came. But that was what made him a _good_ spy.

Crayt Markav crossed her arms as he finished his report and glanced over at Captain Danilov. "I 'd heard bits of chatter about a Resistance force taking shape here," she said. "I would suppose this confirms it." She glanced out grimly at the city. "And as long as we're here, it would be wise to remove this tumor before it can metastasize."

"I agree," Danilov said, "but we should make our stand outside the city. And we still don't know where specifically the enemy forces are—"

"Then we will find them," Crayt interrupted. "Deploy your mobile suit force, and open fire on the city."

The bridge went silent as Danilov's restraint was overcome by his disbelief, and at his side, Vera almost let her clipboard slip from her grasp. "M-Marshal," Danilov said, "you...you want us to attack Volgograd?"

"They will have no choice but to come to us," Crayt said, "where we can easily cut them down in the dock." She scowled back at the city. "The people of Volgograd have been harboring Resistance members. They do not fear us—so clearly, they need a reminder."

"Marshal, we would kill thousands of people if we fired on the city," Danilov protested.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me," Crayt replied, turning to gaze coldly at Danilov. "Those that do not fear our wrath need to be reminded of how much our wrath is to be feared."

Danilov searched for words. "Marshal, I know you are a religious person," he said. "And this city is full of civilians—innocent people—"

"I'm growing weary of this, captain," Crayt cut him off, glowering back. "This is a war in which there are no civilians. And those who would close their eyes and ears to the sights and sounds of the Resistance rather than fight them have denied themselves the kingdom of God." She turned back towards the city. "So kill them all. God will know His own."

Danilov felt his heart break as he turned towards his men. "Ronald," he said brokenly, looking over at the shocked weapons officer, "we...have our orders." He paused to push down the sickness at what he was about to do. "Target...target the weapons on Volgograd."

Ronald haltingly complied, and Danilov felt the world spin as he watched the _Charlemagne_'s plethora of guns turn towards the city—towards thousands of people, staring death in the face and not knowing it.

"Marshal," he said, "this isn't the only way—"

"_Fire!_" Crayt snapped.

Danilov squeezed his eyes shut as the _Charlemagne_ began to fire.

—

Inside the cockpit of his Slaughter Windam, with a squad of Jet Windams behind it, Grey Saiba looked on in horror as the _Charlemagne_'s triple-barreled Gottfrieds leveled an apartment complex—and undoubtedly snuffed out hundreds of lives. He watched and felt as though he was not in control of his own body, as he saw his Windams moving forward, with Merau's squad nearby, stomping through the flaming ruins of the port and into the city—where teams of Windams were already toppling buildings and blasting apart streets and murdering people.

Murder. That's what it was. Murder.

"Why...why are we doing this?" Grey asked, his voice trembling, his quaking eyes glancing over at Merau on the side screen. She looked back at him grimly.

"This is how the Phantom Pain fights its battles," she answered. "Nobody will be safe."

"But why...?" Grey trailed off, looking out over the city, as a Windam smashed a building with its shield. "Why do we need to kill civilians to fight the Resistance?"

"The Resistance moves among the people," Merau answered. "But not if there are no people." She looked around, and Grey could tell that she was trying to hold back her own disbelief—that she did not really believe what she was saying. "And...we have our orders from the marshal herself."

Grey looked out at the city, in flames. "I thought this was how the Resistance fought..."

Merau closed her eyes. "It's how humans fight."

—

The ground quaked as a building came crashing down with a plume of dust and smoke, and inside the Blu Duel, Mudie Holcroft blinked as she caught motion in her peripheral vision. She turned, finding people flooding out of an adjacent building in terror, as the Verde Buster and Strike Noir moved on up ahead. A beam blast came streaking out of nowhere into the crowd, and a hundred people vanished in a plume of fire.

Mudie blinked again, as a Dark Windam stomped closer, beam rifle raised. "Lieutenant," the Windam's pilot said, "why are you stopped? Is there a problem?"

"Negative," Mudie said, shutting the screen off and turning towards Sven and Shams. "What's the point of all this...?"

The Blu Duel took up its position next to the Verde Buster as Sven led his team through the city. "The _Minerva_ will undoubtedly move to stop this attack," Sven said, "so we will intercept the mobile suits they launch, and handle the Destiny."

"I'm sure they won't be happy to see us," Shams answered. "Is it just me or does this all seem like it'll just piss 'em off more?"

"These are our orders," Sven said shortly.

"Yeah, but what do you think of our orders?"

Sven narrowed his eyes at Shams. "It is not our job to judge our orders," he said. "It's our job to carry them out."

Mudie frowned as she caught the instantaneous flicker in Sven's eyes, and looked around at the destruction.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"There was no provocation on our part!" Chekhov insisted, as the _Minerva_'s bridge sank down into its darkened battle status and Meyrin bit back a curse. "None of my units were even near the port when they started firing! But we need to do something here, or else all of Volgograd will be razed!"

"I know," Meyrin answered. "To think they purposely targeted civilians to draw us out..."

"This must be a trap," Abbey put in. "They're targeting civilians to draw us into battle. They must have some kind of plan. This has to be a trap."

"Then we have no choice but to spring it," Meyrin said darkly. "Trap or no trap, I'm not about to let the Phantom Pain slaughter people. Launch the mobile suits! Professor, are you going to send your mobile suits out?"

On the _ReHOME_, the Professor sat back in her chair. "They're really pulling out the stops," she said, arching an eyebrow. "I'm sure the enemy's MS are after us. Gai suggests keeping the _ReHOME_'s mobile suits back here while the _Minerva_'s MS go out into the city. Canard's machine has an Armure Lumiere shield, so he'd be good on defense. Sound good?"

"It will do," Meyrin said. "Attention _Minerva_ squadron, your job is to get out there and stop the _Charlemagne_. Sink that ship if you have to," she narrowed her eyes, "but it's not getting away with this!"

—

The Twilight Gundam landed with a crash next to the _Minerva_'s other Gundams, all arrayed before the _Minerva_ and the _ReHOME_, weapons in hand. Emily glanced towards Volgograd, burning and melting under the guns of the Phantom Pain.

"Those _bastards,_" Sting snarled, as the _ReHOME_'s Blue Frame Second L launched and landed in front of the yellow Junk Guild ship. "This is unforgivable."

Gai's grim face appeared on the screen. "Athrun, Shinn, we'll entrust the forward combat to you. We'll be back here to protect the ships." He paused as Canard Pars' Dreadnought H landed heavily nearby. "Canard has a lightwave shield that will be quite useful in defending the ships."

"I'm sure the _Minerva_ is their ultimate objective," Canard added soberly, "so we'll have plenty of action to ourselves."

"Get going, you guys!" Lowe interrupted, as the Red Frame drew its sword anxiously. "Before they do anymore damage! Jeez!"

The Infinite Justice turned towards the rest of the _Minerva_'s machines. "You heard him," Athrun said. The Gundams took off.

"I can sense her," Shinn added, his eyes flashing angrily. "It's Markav. The commander of the Phantom Pain."

"Crayt Markav?" Auel echoed. "What the hell is she doing out here?"

"Ordering a massacre, it looks like," Sting snarled. "Even for them, this is low."

"It's a truly evil person who would do this," Athrun agreed.

Rau smirked. "Good and evil are subjective," he said.

"Shut up, Rau," Shinn snapped. "Chekhov reports that his troops are engaging the Phantom Pain. So let's go!"

Emily shook her head, trying to shut out the suffering, and took off.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

Danilov tried not to imagine he could hear the screams of the dying and soon to die as he watched Volgograd burn before his eyes. Crayt Markav stood silhouetted against the flaming city, arms crossed, with a wild grin on her face. Danilov blankly wondered how she could be so happy when she was watching such horror unfold before her.

"Was this really necessary, marshal?" he asked quietly. Crayt glanced over at him with a smirk.

"The Resistance has such charismatic figures as Chiao Xu and Shinn Asuka," she answered. "We can't compete with their charisma, so we lose the public's support, because the people are fickle and will throw their hearts to whoever sets them aflutter." She looked back at Volgograd. "But we have far more firepower, and even if the wings of light captivate the public's imagination, they will fear us when we train our guns on them. And I intend to make them fear once more."

Danilov paused, choosing his words. "Marshal, that would...that would run the risk of angering people and inciting them to fight us," he started.

Crayt merely laughed. "Oh, you see, captain, that is a common mistake." She gestured to the burning city. "If you don't apply enough force, then yes, the people will believe that you can be overcome, and your slings and arrows will only anger them. But if you apply enough force, destroy enough territory, kill enough people...then all will understand the lengths to which you will go to crush dissent, and none but the most foolish will risk your wrath." She turned. "Now then, I have business to attend to in this city. We've caused enough damage to make the beginnings of our statement. The battle will doubtless cause more, and I'm sure we'll have further occasions as well. I am launching in the Euclid."

"...yes ma'am," Danilov said quietly.

Crayt swept off the bridge, leaving the broken Danilov behind.

—

The Strike Noir tramped forward, beam pistols in hand, amidst the smoke and fire and rubble of Volgograd, with two squads of Dark Windams behind it. Staggered reports were coming in of the Resistance forces in the city beginning to fight back against the Phantom Pain attackers—so much the better, as their objective had been to lure this force out.

And yet, as Sven Cal Bayan cast his eyes around the city, he had to suppress the feeling of sickness at what was happening.

The Noir's sensors screamed—Sven vaulted into the air as a beam blast tore into the ground beneath him, landing with a crash behind the crater. He looked down the street—

Standing in the intersection, flanked by its comrades, beam rifle extended, stood the Destiny Gundam.

—

To be continued...


	22. Phase 22: The Face of the Enemy

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 22 - The Face of the Enemy

—

**March 9th, CE 77 - Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast, Russia**

The city of Volgograd burned as the mobile suits and the guns of the Phantom Pain tore it down, throwing it into the sky as towering columns of flame and thick clouds of smoke. Inside the Twilight Gundam, Emily stared in disbelief at the cruelty of the Phantom Pain, laid bare before her—and heard the ruthless voice of Harris Meyers in her mind again.  
"What kind of people would do this...?" she murmured.

Across the street, Shinn's eyes flashed in fury as the seed fell before him. "This is the way our enemy fights!" he snapped. The Destiny charged, drawing its Arondight with a flash. "_So come on, you bastards, and fight a real battle!_"

Emily turned her eyes towards her foes, as two squads of Windams rounded a corner before her. The Twilight stormed forward, opening fire with its beam rifle—the Windams scattered, but the two Windams in the lead stood their ground. The Slaughter Windam and IWSP Windam fired back with their beam rifles—Emily plowed through the blasts with her beam shield and fired back, forcing the Windams on the defensive.

"Shit!" Grey exclaimed, drawing back with a beam rifle barrage. "That must be the Twilight...!"

"It's that kid!" Merau snapped, sweeping in around the Twilight with a Gatling burst. The Twilight whipped around, delivering a punishing kick to the Windam's head and sending it staggering backward. "Dammit!"

"No you don't!" Grey screamed, leveling off his rifle—

"I see you too!" Emily cried—the Twilight whirled around, kicking the rifle from the Slaughter Windam's hand, and stashed its own rifle to switch to a beam saber. "There'll be less damage this way...and I can beat you like this!"

"My rifle!" shouted Grey, throwing the Windam back to dodge the Twilight's furious saber swipe. "You bitch—!"

"You're mine!" Merau cried, charging in from behind with both swords drawn. Emily narrowed her eyes at the oncoming foe, and with a crash, slammed the Twilight's left elbow into the Windam's stomach, jarring its cockpit and throwing the machine back.

"How can you fight for such evil people...?" Emily breathed, whirling around to block the Slaughter Windam's beam saber blow. "_How can you kill people like this!"_

—

The Destiny Gundam somersaulted over the furious beam barrage of the Verde Buster, spiraling elegantly through the air and bringing its sword down onto the Blu Duel's shield. The Blu Duel rattled, backing away—an instant later, the Strike Noir brought its own swords to bear, slamming them against the Destiny's blade. The Verde Buster lined up for a killing shot—the Destiny backflipped off the Noir, dodging the blasts again.

"Shit, they weren't able to fly on their own before!" Shinn growled, squeezing off a long-cannon shot to keep the Verde Buster off guard, and swinging back at the Blu Duel as it came charging towards him, beam saber in hand. "They must be modified!"

The Noir pounded its swords down against the Destiny. "Keep attacking!" Sven snapped. "Keep him off balance!"

The Blu Duel swept in from behind, beam saber held high—Shinn kicked backwards, striking the Blu Duel in the face and knocking it aside, before ducking down towards the ground as the Verde Buster fired again. The Blu Duel charged, balance regained, slamming its saber onto the Destiny's shield. The Noir came shrieking down, swords raised—Shinn kicked off the Blu Duel with a crash, diving aside as the Noir brought its swords down through empty air.

"You aren't that powerful!" Mudie cried, as the Verde Buster showered the Destiny with beam shots. As the Destiny whirled around to fire back, she lunged up towards the legendary Gundam, saber pulled back, and slammed it against the Destiny's sword. Shinn surged forward, throwing the Blu Duel back—

A moment later, the Destiny lurched, as the Strike Noir hooked its anchors around the Destiny's arms, pulling them out to the sides and leaving the Destiny wide open.

"_Now!_" Sven roared. The Blu Duel leveled off its right-hand beam gun—

"_You think I'll let you?_"

The Destiny came to life, its beam wings activating with a flash, slicing the Noir's anchor cables apart—and with a roar of engines, the Destiny streaked forward, ramming into the Blu Duel and throwing it out of the sky.

"Dammit!" Shams shouted, as he pummeled the Destiny with railgun shells. "What does it take to put this guy down!"

—

"Marshal, your launch vector is clear!" the hangar operator said. "But the visibility—"

"Nothing can be hidden from the eye of God," Crayt interrupted, cracking her knuckles as she settled into the cockpit of her Euclid mobile armor. "Crayt Markav, Euclid, taking off!"

The Euclid lifted off with a roar, blazing into the battle with a trail of exhaust. Crayt scanned the battlefield—the Resistance's desperate collection of mobile suits and armored vehicles and helicopters were trying in vain to hold off the Phantom Pain. But the army of God would not be denied.

A familiar presence pricked her consciousness, as the Euclid swept in low over burning buildings. She narrowed her eyes.

"Rau Le Creuset," she murmured. "Your existence is an affront to God!"

—

The Infinite Justice Gundam landed with a crash in front of a green and beige Dagger L, deflecting a volley of beam rifle shots with its beam shield and firing back. The Windams down the street scattered behind their shields, as Athrun checked the condition of the missile pods attached the subflight unit's wings.

"Shit," he growled, "they're forcing us to fight in the city!" He looked over his shoulder. "Chekhov!"

The green Dagger L squeezed off a shot down the street, forcing the Windams back behind cover as they crept out of hiding. "We can't keep fighting like this, Commander Zala, or all of Volgograd will be destroyed!"

Athrun looked grimly back down the street, firing again with his rifle at the Windams. "Your troops are in no shape to fight like this!" he said. "Pull them out before they're slaughtered!"

The Windams opened fire, forcing the Justice and the Dagger back and sending them both diving out of the street.

"My men will not die with their backs to their enemies!" Chekhov shot back, pausing to fire again at the advancing Windams. "Your concern is appreciated, Commander Zala, but if we must die today, then defending Volgograd would be a fine way to go!"

A wave of beam blasts from above tore the street apart, and the Windams dove for cover as the ground shook and the Savior Gundam landed with a crash.

"Goddammit, I can't use any of the new weapons here!" Viveka snarled, firing at the Windams with her rifle as they took cover behind their shields. "Chekhov! We've got to get this battle out of the city!"

"I have Vasily in the northern section of the city," Chekhov answered, pausing as a Windam slammed a missile into his shield, forcing his Dagger to stagger back. Athrun answered with a beam rifle barrage that drove the Phantom Pain machine back behind its own shield. "He's telling me that every time his men try to bait the Phantoms out of the city limits, they stay put. They must be purposefully keeping the battle here to worsen the damage!"

"Damn them!" Athrun hissed, pausing to shoot down another barrage of missiles with his CIWS. "All this pointless killing...!"

—

"Stella!" shouted Sting, as the missiles came pouring down around the three Gundams, huddled behind a rapidly-shrinking office building. "Can you get back and snipe them!"

The Gaia Gundam hefted its rifle as it leapt out from behind cover, opening fire at the Windams down the street. The Abyss followed, letting loose a punishing barrage of beams that sent several of the enemy Windams sprawling.

"Stella, get back and find a place to shoot from!" Auel shouted.

"If they keep going like this, they'll destroy the whole city!" Sting growled, as the Chaos lunged out of hiding and squeezed off a beam rifle shot that pounded into a Windam's shield down the street. "And we're limited in our weapons, too!"

"Then I'll tear these sons of bitches apart myself!" Auel screamed, leveling off the shoulder cannons and pummeling the Windams with a hail of shells.

The Chaos deflected a return volley with its shield. "We can't be too reckless or we'll wind up causing even more damage to the city..." Sting growled. "They've really screwed us over."

The Abyss ignited the beam tip of its lance. "Then let's close in and fight at melee range!" Auel snapped. "Stella will just have to be careful!"

Drawing a beam saber, the Chaos joined the Abyss in a furious charge.

—

"How can you kill people like this?" Emily screamed, sending the Slaughter Windam reeling with a punishing kick to the chest. Even as she landed, she whirled around at the familiar feeling of danger, cutting a scything beam boomerang out of the sky with her beam saber, and charging towards the IWSP Windam behind her as it leveled off its Gatling shield. "_How can you be so cruel!"_

The IWSP Windam drew its beam rifle, but the mobile suit shuddered as the Twilight tore it in two with a saber strike, and slammed the blade down onto the Windam's shield, knocking it back, and sending it sprawling with a devastating left hook across the face.

The Slaughter Windam came charging in from behind, beam saber held high, but Emily deflected its blow with her saber. She narrowed her eyes at the Windam as it struggled to press her saber down—the pilot was suffering too, with feelings of disbelief and horror and regret.

"You...!" she started—the Twilight surged forward, throwing the Slaughter Windam aside and sending it crashing to the ground. Emily came down on it with a scream, wrapping the Twilight's left hand around the Windam's neck and pointing her beam saber at its cockpit, as she keyed on the communication channel.

Emily blinked in disbelief as she came face to face with a boy who could not have been much older than herself, in a black Phantom Pain flight suit, staring in disbelief with wide blue eyes through wispy locks of brown hair. This was the Phantom Pain pilot—?

"What—you're the Twilight's pilot!" the boy cried. "Emily—!"

"_Why are you doing this?_" Emily snapped, fury flashing through her bones as she clenched her fists around the Twilight's controls. "_Why are you killing people like this?_"

Grey's eyes flashed as he stared into the eyes of his enemy. "Don't talk that way to me, Resistance scum!" he shot back. "If you hadn't come to Volgograd this would have never happened!"

"Grey!" a voice shouted—the Twilight lurched as a salvo of shells slammed into it, knocking it aside and freeing Grey's Windam. He leapt to his feet, finding Merau's IWSP Windam standing tall with smoke curling from its cannons, and watched it hurl one of its anti-ship swords at the reeling Twilight—

A beam rifle blast came out of nowhere, piercing the sword from above and shattering it. Another volley of beam blasts rained down on the two Windams, forcing them back behind their shields, and the ground quaked as the Legend Gundam landed with a crash. Merau raised her remaining sword, but the Legend sent her Windam staggering back with a kick to the face.

"Emily!" Rau barked, his smile gone from his masked face. "Stop looking at the face of your enemy!"

"Why?" Emily cried, as the Twilight got back to its feet, reigniting its beam saber and deflecting another blow from the Slaughter Windam.

"Can you look into that soldier's eyes and shoot him!" Rau asked back.

Two more pulsing beam shots came down from the heavens, slamming into Rau's beam shield, and the Legend took off—pursued by a hulking white Euclid mobile armor.

"I'm not going to let some little girl with a Gundam beat me!" Grey cried, surging forward with the thrust from the Aile Striker. "_Go down!_"

—

"They're even using artillery," grunted Canard Pars, as the Dreadnought H took a volley of shells from a squad of Doppelhorn Dark Windams to its Armure Lumiere shield. "Do you weaklings think you can beat me!" The Dreadnought H responded with a withering barrage from its Zastava Stigmate submachinegun. "Lowe, now!"

The sky shook as the Gundam Astray Red Frame leapt with the grace of a tiger through the air, its Gerbera Straight flashing, and Lowe victoriously beheaded the leading Windam, slicing its Doppelhorn Striker in two. "_Ha!_" Lowe shouted triumphantly. "Slicing and dicing since '71!" Canard grinned as he riddled the Windam with a burst of Stigmate fire, blowing it apart.

"It appears that the _Minerva_ was their target after all," Gai intoned, as the Blue Frame sprayed the Windams with fire from the Tactical Arms' Gatling gun. Elijah's ZAKU Warrior stood nearby, beam rifle in hand, taking cover behind its shield as the Windams battered it with beam fire. "We may have to ask the _Minerva_ to pull some of its mobile suits back to reinforce us."

One of the Windams charged at Lowe with a beam saber, swiping furiously at the Red Frame. Lowe ducked below the swing and jammed his sword up into the Windam's chest, before swinging back to send the wounded mobile suit staggering aside—where it was easy prey for Canard's Stigmate. Lowe backpedaled and jumped over the withering return fire of the rest of the Windams.

"Dammit, they're getting cranky!" Lowe grunted. "Hey Mr. Mercenary, got any bright ideas here?"

He paused and ducked behind Canard's lightwave shield as the Windams pummeled the shield with artillery fire. One of the Windams leapt forward, beam rifle raised high, taking aim at the _ReHOME_'s bridge—

With a crash, the Windam broke in two at the waist and exploded, and the ground shuddered as another mobile suit landed in the fray.

"What the hell is the Civilian Astray doing out here?" Canard barked, glaring over at the yellow Civilian Astray as it stood with both beam sabers in hand, daring the Windams to come closer.

"Professor, did anyone take the Civvie Astray?" Lowe exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Lowe!" an all too familiar voice exclaimed. "_I'm here to help!_"

Lowe blinked in disbelief. "_George?_ You can control that thing?"

The Red Frame's screen was immediately filled by the beaming face of George Glenn. "Of course I can! Kisato installed a receptor in the Civilian Astray's cockpit, so I can control it from remote!"

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Kisato's voice offered helplessly.

The Civilian Astray made an elaborate cross with its sabers, flashing its eyes imposingly. "Now let's show these guys what the First Coordinator can do!"

The Astray charged towards the disbelieving Windams, sabers in hand. Lowe shook his head, hefting the Gerbera Straight.

"If you say so. Canard, cover us!"

The Dreadnought H opened up with a withering beam cannon barrage, supplementing the attack with its Stigmate, as the Red Frame and Astray sprinted forward. Lowe charged with a scream, bringing the Straight to bear on a stunned Windam as it turned its rifle on the Red Frame, cleaving the Windam's right arm off and leaving it to be torn to pieces by the Dreadnought H's Stigmate.

The Civilian Astray somersaulted over the shots of two Doppelhorn Windams, landing between them with a crash and planting its sabers through both of their cockpits. Even as they exploded, the Astray stormed forward, stabbing through the smoke to take down a third Windam.

"Don't forget I was an ace pilot in the Reconstruction War!" George laughed, even as he backpedaled and used the Astray's sabers to bat aside beam blasts. "There's nothing I can't do!"

Near the _ReHOME_, inside his ZAKU, Elijah blinked in disbelief as the Civilian Astray and Red Frame battled their way through the Windams.

"Uh, Gai, is this what you meant by reinforcements?" he asked uneasily, as his ZAKU gestured towards the two sword-wielding Astrays.

"No," Gai answered, pausing to blow away another Windam's Doppelhorn Striker, "but it will do. Cover me!"

The Blue Frame converted its Tactical Arms to sword mode and charged.

—

With afterimages flashing across the battlefield, the Destiny Gundam spiraled gracefully through the air, bringing its sword crashing down onto the Strike Noir's crossed blades. The Blu Duel came roaring up from behind, saber pulled back—Shinn whipped around to smack the Blu Duel aside with the blunt end of the Arondight, and then rocketed into the sky to dodge the Verde Buster's beam cannon blast.

"You guys don't give up, do you?" Shinn snapped, leveling off his long cannon to fire back at the Verde Buster, and batting the Noir aside with his sword as it came charging in.

"How can he fight his way out of all of our traps?" Sven snarled as he fought to maintain the Noir's balance. "Switch to beam guns and we'll fight him at mid-range!"

The Verde Buster showered the Destiny with railgun shells and beam cannon blasts as the Noir and Blu Duel drew their beam guns and opened fire. Shinn scowled and effortlessly ducked below their shots, deactivating his sword and switching back to his beam rifle.

"Is that how you wanna fight now?" he snapped. "Dammit, there's more risk to the city this way..." He leveled off his rifle at the Verde Buster and opened fire, even as he ducked around the Noir and Blu Duel's shots. "And they all have twice as many guns as I do!"

The Blu Duel poured beam blasts after the Destiny, following up with a railgun shell. "These Wings of Light just won't go down!" Mudie snapped.

The Noir charged, beam pistols blazing, and somersaulted over the Destiny's return fire. "He can't hit us with that sword like this," Sven said. "Intensify fire!"

Shinn cursed as the three Alliance machines poured fire after him, and focused on dodging their attacks. "Abes," he said, "do we have another rifle for the Destiny left?"

The grim face of Matt Abes appeared on one of the auxiliary screens, even as Shinn danced through his enemies' attacks. "We have one, but you'd have to come back here to・"

"Put it in the Impulse catapult and launch it!" Shinn cut him off, pausing to deflect the Noir's blasts with his beam shield.

"Even for you, that's a crazy stunt," Abes warned. "If you don't catch it, we'll have wasted a rifle."

"Well, it's a crazy stunt I've pulled off before!" Shinn said. "Do it!"

"Roger," Abes answered. The screen went dark, and Shinn glared back up at the Noir as it came shrieking in with a beam pistol barrage.

"Do we have this guy on the ropes yet?" Shams snapped, as he pummeled the Destiny with a railgun shell. "He's gotta go down sometime!"

The Destiny backpedaled behind its beam shield, as the three Alliance machines battered it with beam fire. "He'll have to fall at some point," Sven snarled. "Keep attacking!" The Noir charged, leveling off its beam pistols—

Shinn narrowed his eyes at the charging Noir. "_I don't think so!_"

The Destiny's spare rifle went shooting into the fray, and Shinn extended the Destiny's left hand to catch it, spiraling around and snapping both rifles up to open fire on the Alliance mobile suits. Sven and Mudie blinked in disbelief, jetting apart to dodge the shots as Shinn trained his rifles on both of them, pouring fire after the two Gundams as they were forced on the defensive.

"Where did that rifle come from!" Mudie exclaimed.

"They must have launched it from the ship," Sven growled, trying to fire back and finding no opening. "Shams—!"

"I can't get a lock!" Shams exclaimed. "Goddamn this guy!"

—

The Windam shuddered as Auel slammed the bladed end of his lance through its torso, knocking the entire mobile suit aside with a crash and deflecting a beam blast from one of its comrades with his left-hand shoulder shell. He charged towards the second Windam, slamming his lance's beam tip against the Windam's shield and sending it stumbling back. An instant later, a shimmering beam blast came streaking out of nowhere to blow the Windam apart.

"Stella's getting good at this," Sting commented from nearby, even as he ducked under a Windam's beam saber swipe and planted his own saber into the Windam's cockpit.

"Yeah, well, I still think buying her that sniper video game was a dumb idea," Auel shot back; the Abyss surged forward, pounding another pair of Windams with artillery fire.

The Chaos plunged through the smoke, tearing one of the Windams in two with its saber. As the other Windams turned their guns on the green Gundam, Auel leveled off his beam cannons, blowing two more Windams away—and a second shot from the faraway Gaia lanced across the battlefield to take out the fourth Windam.

"We're making progress!" Sting exclaimed. "Jeez, I thought these guys were the Phantom Pain's best!"

—

With a crash, the Infinite Justice deflected a Windam's saber strike with its beam shield. Athrun leapt into the air, sawing the Windam's arm off with a beam blade-assisted kick, and ducked aside—just in time for Chekhov's Dagger L to blow the Windam apart with a beam shot through the cockpit.

"They're gonna regret this battle when we're done here!" Chekhov roared. "_Minerva_, this is Chekhov! Can you launch to support us?"

Abbey's static-broken face appeared on the monitor. "Negative," she answered. "We're under attack as it is and we'd just wind up doing more damage to the city."

In the middle of the street, the Savior Gundam let loose with a punishing beam cannon volley that sent the enemy Windams diving for cover. "Well, they'll have to give up sometime or we'll tear their whole mobile suit force apart!" Viveka cried. The Savior lunged forward, drawing a beam saber to saw through another charging Windam's waist.

"Chekhov, we can handle these guys," Athrun said, pausing to shower the Windams with beam rifle fire. "Are you sure you don't want to pull back?"

Chekhov only smirked. "My homeland is under attack, Commander Zala, and I am going to defend it." He ducked aside from a Windam's rifle shot and fired back. "I'm sure you understand such a sentiment!"

Athrun smiled bitterly. "Perfectly."

—

"At last we meet on the battlefield, Rau Le Creuset!" Crayt Markav cried as her Euclid plunged into battle, showering the Legend Gundam with beam shots. "And now I will finally have a chance to purge the world of your sinful influence!"

Rau flashed a feral grin as the Legend went spiraling away, ducking amidst the buildings and around the Euclid's furious blasts. "Such ambitious goals for the self-proclaimed soldier of God!" he cackled. "But what could you be doing here? I am fascinated to see that your God condones mass murder!"

"I'll rid the world of those who stand by to hide sinners from the eye of God!" Crayt snarled. "Starting with you...and that little girl, Emily!"

Rau frowned, even as he sent the Legend ducking around the Euclid's furious blasts. _Emily...?_

"Whether you know anything important about her or not is irrelevant! I'll send you to hell before you can do anything about it!" The Euclid came down with a crash, plowing bodily through a skyscraper and pummeling the Legend beam shields with cannon fire.

_Emily..._ Rau thought, as the pieces began to come together. _So there is more to her than meets the eye after all! Her ability to learn and adapt and grow...yes, as I thought, it's not innate!_

The Legend whirled around, pounding the Euclid's positron reflector with a wave of beam cannon blasts. "There are so many secrets in this world that not even I can keep track of them all," he laughed, "but I thank you, Sister Markav, for enlightening me as to this one!" He plunged after the Euclid, drawing a beam javelin and stabbing forward with it furiously. "I will certainly enjoy puzzling out the details of this little gem you've turned over to me!"

"Damn you!" Crayt hissed, showering the Legend with missiles. Rau cackled hysterically as he tore them from the sky with a CIWS burst.

"Yes, damn me all you want! As though I fear the judgment of a false prophet!" he laughed, answering her fire with a beam rifle burst. "So tell me, was she trained as well? Is she an Extended? What else do you have to share about little Miss Oldendorf?"

"_Hell will swallow you whole!_" screamed Crayt, as the Euclid fired back with a withering beam cannon barrage. Rau spiraled through the shots and pummeled the Euclid with a punishing beam volley of his own.

"It tried that once before," Rau chuckled, "and found me unpalatable! So here I am to walk amongst you once more! Is there anything else you'd like to elucidate for me, or are we done here?"

The Euclid charged, ramming its way through another building and pounding a volley of beams after the Legend. "You have power that is not rightfully yours!" Crayt snapped, plowing through the Legend's beam shots and shrugging them off with her positron reflector. "They forged that child from pure evil, and _I will destroy it here!_"

Rau grinned. "I'd like to see you try, _soldier of God!_"

—

The Slaughter Windam drove its beam saber down against the Twilight's blade, forcing both mobile suits to glower at each other over the shimmering columns of energy, eyes flashing.

"Dammit," Grey snarled, "it's just a kid! How can she fight like this?"

The Windam surged forward, pushing the Twilight back and raising its saber high for a killing blow. The Twilight balled its fist, smashing it into the Windam's face and sending it reeling back. It crashed down through a building—and Emily's eyes widened in horror.

"No!" she cried, reaching forward—

The building came down on the other side of the street with a crash and a plume of dust, right on top of a crowd of fleeing civilians, and Emily felt the world spin as a hundred lives vanished in the dust.

Emily clamped her hands over her mouth as her world came crashing to a halt, her eyes narrowing to pinpoints, as that horrible feeling of death washed over her. If she had not struck that Windam—

It was sweeping over the battlefield; death, hatred, fear, evil, chaos, all of it, everywhere, crushing her, pressing down on her like a terrible weight on her shoulders. She squeezed her eyes shut as the voices assailed the walls of her mind, screaming—in agony, for pain; in anguish, for loss; in anger, for combat.

"Stop it..." she started; the world swam around her as people died and their lives disappeared. "_Stop it..._"

The Twilight rattled as the IWSP Windam rammed into it with its shield, throwing the black Gundam back. Emily looked up, fear clouding the fringes of her vision, as she saw the Windam raise its sword triumphantly—

The seed burst.

The Twilight surged forward with a furious scream from its pilot, ripping through the IWSP Windam's arm with a palm cannon blow and sending the Windam reeling with a shattering kick to the chest. The Slaughter Windam leapt to its feet, charging with saber drawn.

"Get the hell away from her!" Grey screamed・

Emily turned her lightless eyes on the Windam.

The Twilight whirled around, bringing its saber down through the Windam's arm—and with a crash, Emily sent Grey's Windam reeling with a powerful backhand.

She looked up in the sky—mobile suits, enemies, fighting everywhere.

With a roar, the Twilight Gundam lunged into the sky, beam wings flashing to life, aiming straight at the Destiny's three Phantom Pain foes. Inside the Strike Noir, Sven turned in surprise towards the charging Gundam—just in time for the Noir to be slammed aside, the Twilight ramming it bodily and throwing it back. Emily brought her saber down with a scream, her eyes flashing, and Sven barely blocked it with his sword. He stabbed back with the second sword—Emily tore it from his grasp and hurled it away, before curling her fist to rattle the Noir with a devastating left hook that sent it spiraling towards the ground.

"What the hell—!" Shams shouted, and leveled off his rifles. A moment later, the Verde Buster shook as the Twilight tore its rifles in two with a vicious beam saber swipe. _"Who the hell is this?_"

The Verde Buster pulled back, pummeling the Twilight with railgun rounds—only to see the Twilight storm through the smoke and send the Verde Buster staggering out of the sky with a ferocious kick.

"_STOP IT!_" Emily shrieked, even as the Twilight whirled around towards the Blu Duel.

"This is that little girl!" Mudie exclaimed, as she desperately showered the Twilight with beam gun fire. The charging black Gundam effortlessly plowed through her fire with its beam shield, an army of afterimages swelling around it, and severed the Blu Duel's arms with a shrieking saber swipe. "_What the—?_"

"_STOP FIGHTING!_" Emily screamed. "_I'LL MAKE YOU ALL STOP FIGHTING!_"

With a final shuddering kick, the Blu Duel went careening towards the ground, and the Twilight turned its blazing eyes on the port.

Left behind in the Destiny Gundam, Shinn Asuka watched in disbelief.

—

A final beam shot from the Gaia came pulsing out from across the city, drilling through the final Windam's cockpit and wiping it out. Inside the Abyss Gundam, Auel looked grimly down the street, as it winded through the city and ultimately towards the port—where the _Charlemagne_ was waiting.

"Come on, Sting, get your ass in gear!" he said.

"Wait," Sting said, "look—!"

The sky cracked in two as a pair of Windams exploded in midair, and with a roar of engines, the Twilight Gundam emerged from the smoke with shimmering wings of light.

"What the—is that Emily?" Auel started. "What the hell is she doing?"

"Shinn says she's going apeshit," Sting said grimly. "So come on! Before she gets herself killed!"

"Why is the going nuts like this...?" Auel grunted as the two Gundams took off to pursue the Twilight. "Is this another Newtype thing?"  
"These moves..." Sting murmured. "She's more efficient...more aggressive...she's never been like this before, except..." He shook his head. "Except when she was fighting that unit in Karelia."

"Then what is this?" Auel asked.

"I don't know," Sting answered. "All I know is that we need to keep her from getting shot down. So let's move!"

—

"The Twilight is doing _what?_" exclaimed Elijah, pausing only to deflect an errant Windam's missile with his ZAKU's shield and fire back with his beam rifle. The Blue Frame lunged into the air and slammed its Tactical Arms sword through the Windam's cockpit. "Gai, the Twilight is making an attack run on the _Charlemagne!_"

"The Twilight? Alone?" Gai echoed, as he deflected a beam blast with the Tactical Arms and slashed the offending Windam's rifle in two. "Is she seriously...?"

"Are any of us going to go help her?" Canard asked, as the Dreadnought H replaced a clip in its Zastava Stigmate. Nearby, the Red Frame expertly parried a Windam's beam saber blow and brought the Gerbera Straight down diagonally through it, slicing it in two.

"Someone's gonna have to..." Lowe started. "Gai, do you think you can handle these guys on your own—?"

"Don't bother," Gai cut him off. All eyes turned towards the Blue Frame in disbelief.

"She'll get torn apart against the _Charlemagne!_" Canard protested. "Gai—"

"That girl," Gai said, narrowing his eyes up at the Twilight, in the sky far ahead, "is no ordinary pilot." He glanced back at his comrades. "So let her fight."

Nearby, the Civilian Astray landed with a crash, beam sabers held high triumphantly. "Gai gets it!" George Glenn laughed victoriously. "She's _living up to her potential!_"

Gai turned his eyes back towards the Twilight. _There is far more than that..._

—

"One of our own is attacking the _Charlemagne!_" Chekhov roared victoriously, as the Infinite Justice finished off the last Windam in the squad down the street. "Vasily, which unit is it?"

"It's not one of ours, sir!" Vasily answered. He paused as something on his end exploded. "It's that girl with the Gundam!"

"What, her?" Chekhov exclaimed. The Savior looked over at Chekhov's Dagger L sharply.

"Emily?" Viveka cried. "What the hell is she doing, attacking that ship by herself!" She looked over at the Justice. "Athrun—"

She fell silent as she found Athrun with his eyes clamped shut, holding a hand to his temple, clearly in pain. "This...this pressure..."

"Commander Zala! What is it?" Chekhov exclaimed, his Dagger jogging towards the Justice.

Athrun cracked an eye open, staring painfully into the sky, where the Twilight Gundam was battling through the _Charlemagne's_ remaining Windams. "This pressure," he growled, "is coming from Emily..."

"What do you mean from Emily? What's she doing?" Viveka asked, her eye flashing with urgency. Athrun groaned as the pain spiked.

"I don't know," he growled, pausing to glance back at Chekhov's Dagger L. "But...Chekhov, we have them distracted. This is as good a time as any for you to pull back."

"But the battle is not yet won!" Chekhov protested.

"We'll handle that," Viveka interrupted. "You need to get your troops out of here so we can get them to Carpentaria."

"Contact the Professor," Athrun said, pausing to wince. "There's no sense wasting your lives here when you'll be needed in battle at Heaven's Base."

Chekhov regarded Athrun for a moment, before closing his eyes with a sigh. "Very well, commander," he said. "It's been an honor to fight by your side."

Athrun glanced back up at the Twilight. "The honor's been all mine, colonel. Now hurry."

—

Rau cackled in delight as the feeling shot up his spine—pain, anger, fury, and that undeniable touch of something rising to the surface, unveiling itself at long last. Yes, this was how Emily could survive against ace pilots; this was what he had felt when she was fighting the Rosso Aegis in Karelia; this was the power that Crayt had spoken of; and this was what lay at his fingertips.

"Do you feel it, Sister Markav?" Rau cried, pausing only to deliver a punishing beam cannon volley to the Euclid's positron reflector. "The hatred, the anger, the _energy_ that your foolhardy attack has unleashed! I find it ironic that you could lecture me about this power and yet be so ignorant of it yourself!"

"She's even attacking the _Charlemagne..._" Crayt murmured, shrugging off the Legend's beam blasts with her positron reflector. "Damn you, Gerhardt...you knew not what you were tampering with!"

The Euclid broke off from its attack run on the Legend, ducking down into the city and streaking through the buildings. Rau watched it go, grinning wildly.

"It makes perfect sense to me now," he laughed, "and I have only you to thank for it, Sister Markav!" He sat back. "But let's see how well you fare against her...!"

—

Another Windam went down in flames as the Twilight ripped it in half with its beam saber, before plunging through the smoke and charging towards the remaining Phantom Pain machines. Emily screamed as she brought her saber down onto the next Windam's desperately-raised shield—only to kick the shield aside and plant her saber through the Windam's torso. And even as that machine exploded, she plowed into the third Windam and rammed her saber through its cockpit, heedless of the feeling of death rising like steam around her.

A salvo of beam blasts ripped across the battlefield—Emily threw the Twilight back to avoid them, turning her feral eyes on the source, as a white Euclid mobile armor shot by.

"You tapped that power once before," snarled Crayt Markav as she wheeled the Euclid around for another pass, "when you killed Harris Meyers..." The Euclid opened fire, forcing the Twilight back behind its beam shield. "And now perhaps you'll understand just what a sin you are!"

Emily fixed her eyes on the charging mobile armor as it stormed forward, beam cannons blazing—the source of the evil, the source of the hatred and fear and suffering, all of it emanating from that machine—

"_You!_" she screamed, charging forward and drawing her saber back. "_It's your fault!_"

The Euclid dove down towards the ground, ducking the Twilight's furious saber stab. Emily whirled around, leveling off her long-range cannon and pummeling the Euclid with a pulsing beam blast. The mobile armor wheeled around again, opening up with a withering beam barrage.

"To have your kind of power is a sin," Crayt snarled, as the Euclid closed in. "So I will cleanse the world of your kind, _Zero-One!_"

Emily's eyes flashed in fury.

"_I'LL KILL YOU!_"

Crayt's eyes went wide in disbelief as the Twilight plowed through her shots with its beam shield and tore a smoldering gash along the Euclid's armor, tearing its left-hand cannon up and blowing its right-hand cannon out with a palm cannon blow. With a crashing kick to the cockpit, the Twilight sent the Euclid staggering towards the ground, throwing Crayt back in her cockpit seat.

"This child...!" Crayt gasped. "Could she have defeated me...?"

The Euclid turned back towards the _Charlemagne_, as Crayt desperately dropped her payload of combat flares into the pursuing Twilight's face. Emily screamed in rage, clamping her eyes shut as the world went white around her. Crayt glanced back at the hulking battleship in the dock.

"Danilov, pull your mobile suits back to the ship!" she barked. "We are retreating!"

She did not bother to acknowledge Danilov's response, glaring over her shoulder at the Twilight Gundam.

—

To be continued...


	23. Phase 23: The Dead and Dying

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

Note: Babelfish can provide hours of fun. Just FYI.

EDIT 3/11/2011: I am reeeeeeally getting tired of FFN's constant random changes in its formatting rules. Wasn't too long ago I discovered that apparently they won't let you have a question mark followed by an exclamation point or vice versa anymore, and now they're messing up all my dividers and page breaks, so I guess it's only a matter of time before they require all dialogue to be in iambic pentameter or something. Let me know if there's any formatting issues and I'll get it fixed.

—

Phase 23 - The Dead and Dying

—

**March 10th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast, Russia**

The sun had broken at last through the towers of smoke and the baneful clouds hanging overhead. A shaft of light came down from the heavens, to land in Volgograd.

Or rather, what was left of Volgograd.

The city was in ruins. Even from the relatively intact western side of the city, on the bridge of the _Minerva_, Meyrin could see the devastation. The fires were still burning, some of them out of control—because the Phantom Pain had taken care to demolish fire stations and hospitals and police stations first in their rampage from the Volga river's banks towards the _Minerva_ on the western edge of the city, and many of the city's professional emergency responders lay dead in the rubble. And so the city was still overshadowed by the haunting columns of smoke rising from those massive wildfires—and that meant people were still suffering, still losing, still dying.

And that meant Meyrin had nothing to celebrate.

The captain could not cry, she told herself, even in the bare and cruel face of a massacre. She turned towards the main screen, where the Professor was waiting—with her usual bemused smile absent—and Colonel Chekhov towering over her from beside her chair on the _ReHOME_.

"We've got what's left of Chekhov's forces aboard," the Professor said. "Took some doing, though. We'll take them to Murmansk. It's the closest major stronghold, and I doubt they'll expect us to go that way."

"I thank you, on behalf of my men and my city and my people, Captain Hawke, for standing by us in our hour of need," Chekhov added, with a sad smile. "My only regret is that we cannot continue to fight by your side."

"There's no need to thank us," Meyrin said, shaking her head and finding it impossible to return his smile. "If it weren't for us showing up here, they would have never tried to level Volgograd in the first place."

"On the contrary," Chekhov protested, "the bloodthirsty ways of the Phantom Pain know no bounds. I'm certain that they would have found my men at some point, and come to raze this city. And so I'm grateful that you were here to help us stop them."

"We need to get going," the Professor interrupted. "The _Charlemagne_'s back on their heels, and we don't need them waking up and chasing us."

"I know," Meyrin said quietly. "We'll get to work, then. Good luck, _Minerva_ out."

The screen went dark, and Meyrin sat back wearily in the captain's chair, as the _ReHOME_ slowly lifted off the ground, laden with mobile suits, and ponderously turned north. Near the captain's chair, Abbey watched the Junk Guild ship slowly rise into the air.

"Abbey," Meyrin said, "how many people died in this attack?"

Abbey sullenly consulted her clipboard. "They may never know for sure," she answered, "but the mayor is citing a conservative estimate of ten thousand dead, sixty-five thousand injured, and twenty-thousand missing."

"Ten thousand," Meyrin repeated, closing her eyes. "Ten thousand people died because we came here and underestimated the cruelty of the Phantom Pain again." She shook her head. "Why don't we ever learn..."

Abbey glanced awkwardly at the city as it burned. "On the other hand, captain," she went on, "the master at arms reports that the citizens of Volgograd are donating supplies for us." She paused uncomfortably as a smoldering building across the city finally gave way and collapsed. "The Phantom Pain makes these attacks to instill fear of supporting us into the public, but all this violence just makes people angry and makes them support us that much more."

"Our support shouldn't come at the cost of cities full of dead," Meyrin replied. She opened her eyes, turning them towards the dock. "And Emily..."

"I had no idea she would do something so suicidal," Abbey said. "But I also had no idea she could fight like that." She shook her head. "I don't understand her. An amateur who can defeat seasoned Phantom Pain pilots and plow through their defenses like Shinn or Athrun, and yet she has so little training and experience..."

"She is no average Natural," Meyrin answered, "and no average Newtype."

—

Even surrounded by the armor of the Twilight Gundam, Shinn could feel Emily's suffering—and it took no Newtype powers to guess that even as the cockpit swung open, she was still in tears.

From the gantry, Shinn watched as Emily soullessly shambled past him, her eyes dull, her face streaked with tears. Shinn studied her as she disappeared into the ship—his memory jabbed back into his consciousness that incredible pressure as she tore through the Phantom Pain's rearguard and went storming towards the _Charlemagne_ itself. She had fought as well as Rau or Athrun or Shinn himself—but Shinn could not understand why. He knew he had sensed power from her, even when they had first fleetingly met in Reykjavik—but power like this?

Shinn turned at the feeling of Rau Le Creuset approaching, and even in the midst of massacre, he still had that damned smile on his face.

"What are you so smug about?" Shinn snarled, narrowing his crimson eyes at the masked phantasm. Rau chuckled.

"It is useless to try to assuage her suffering," he said. "You of all people should understand that best, Shinn."

"Shut up," Shinn shot back. "What right do you have to talk about suffering? With all the people who suffered in the wars that you orchestrated, you're as bad as the Phantom Pain."

"Then why don't you kill me?" Rau laughed. Shinn scowled at him.

"I would certainly like to." And with that, Shinn turned and stalked away.

Rau grinned up at the Twilight's silent eyes.

—

Athrun Zala needed no Newtype senses to understand the suffering in Volgograd—just in the part of Volgograd that wasn't melting before its citizens' eyes. Here the damage had come in the form of mobile suits in combat, and as the sun tried to shine through smoke and fog, the people were already starting to pick up their lives.

But there was no denying, as Athrun wandered through the broken city with Viveka by his side, that the first thing under the rubble was bodies.

"Are you sure this is a good idea...?" Viveka asked quietly, concern etched into her battle-scarred face. "I mean, your Newtype senses and all—"

"I have to," Athrun said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "To remind myself of why I fight."

He gazed silently at the people pawing at the wreckage—some frantically, as though there was still hope and life beneath those ruins; some somberly and methodically, as though they knew what was waiting for them beneath the wreckage and they had made peace with the pain they would find. Already, whatever vehicles were still functional and suited to the purpose were being loaded with the dead and wounded—and, Athrun noted sadly, there were more of the former than the latter. And it was easy to see why—Athrun and Viveka found themselves standing before an apartment complex that had been completely flattered under a dead Doppelhorn Windam, its wreckage lying in pieces around the block. It stood to reason that there would be few survivors.

"And to think they're doing this in the name of protecting people..." Viveka murmured.

"Almost everyone in Volgograd is a Natural," Athrun said. "When the Phantom Pain's professed purpose is to hunt down Coordinators, they slaughtered Naturals."

Viveka started forward, towards an old couple in snow-caked clothes as they struggled with a body. They turned in surprise as she stooped to help them load the body—the body of a boy—into an idling truck.

"_Спасибо_," the old woman said.

Viveka looked sadly at the elderly pair, and then back at the boy's body. "I won't let them get away with this," she said. "I promise. I'll make the people who did this pay."

"Don't trouble yourself over it too much," the old man said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Volgograd is too proud a city to stay dead forever. These aren't the first evil bastards we've withstood."

"_Бог идет с Вами_," murmured the old woman.

Athrun looked sadly through the buildings and smoke. In the distance, silhouetted against a raging fire somewhere in the city, was the specter of a massive statue hefting a sword triumphantly into the air. He supposed it was to commemorate the long-ago Battle of Stalingrad, the cataclysmic showdown of the ancient World War II, which had left this city looking much like it did right now. He saw Cagalli in that statue, rising up to fight injustice and evil, even among the destruction that the Phantom Pain had wrought upon Volgograd.

Inevitably, he had to remember that this was the same injustice and evil that she had been fighting for...and the injustice and evil that had killed her.

He closed his eyes and bowed his head.

_Cagalli...would you be proud of me?_

—

"Please," the old man begged, toting a boxful of assault rifle magazines, "I know it's not much, but I want you to have it. I must give something."

Sting and Auel glanced awkwardly at each other, standing before the _Minerva_, where they found themselves baffled at the stream of people who had lost so much and were giving what was left to the _Minerva_.

Leaning against the ship's hull with her arms crossed, Roxy glanced at the two awkward Extended. "Y'know, it's probably gonna be dangerous around here for a while," she said to the old man. "You might wanna hang onto those."

"Oh, I'm not completely disarmed," the old man chuckled, pulling his coat aside to show off a submachinegun strapped inside. "Kids these days. But I have a lot more than I need, and these magazines aren't compatible anyway, so I want you to have them." He held the box forward. "Consider it a donation to help you on your way to destroy the Phantom Pain."

"Well, um, alright," Sting started, taking the box from the man and smiling nervously. "Uh, thanks."

"This is the only way we have to express our gratitude for driving those barbarians off," the old man said. "May God protect you." He gave a servile bow and turned around, heading back into the ruined city.

"It says a lot that they don't really have anything left, but whatever they have, they're giving to us," Roxy said with a sigh, glancing into the box. "There's gonna be a lot of looting and shit in this city for a while."

"Yeah, the Phantom Pain blew up most of the police stations in Volgograd, so there's no one to keep the peace," Auel added, looking out over the panorama of destruction. "Those bastards."

"At least Chekhov's men managed to protect the water treatment plant," Roxy added. "Without it this place would be a hotbed of diseases." She shook her head. "They don't fuck around when it comes to demolishing cities to make a point, do they?"

"Well," Sting said, handing off the boxful of ammunition to a soldier in the _Minerva_'s camouflage and black, "this is how they make their statement to the people not to support us. It works on some people, it doesn't work on others."

"Others being us," Auel grunted.

—

It was rather heartbreaking, Shinn thought as he strode through the desolate streets of Volgograd with Stella by his side, to see how much destruction his power could not stop. He had seen this scene before, most recently in Murmansk, but it was the story of the war so far. Whenever the Phantom Pain sought to remind people of how powerful they were, they made no bones about it, enacting a vicious strategy of destroying vital emergency response infrastructure and sanitation systems to turn a resisting city into a vision of hell. To some, this only stiffened the support for the Resistance, seeing such cruelty and injustice and realizing that only death awaited them anyway. But to others—indeed, to most—the threat of annihilation in the cruelest and most heinous ways was enough to frighten the people into compliance.

In Volgograd, at the very least, the reaction had been outrage. Watching their city be demolished by the same people who claimed to protect them had only induced the citizens to give what little they had left to the _Minerva_. The overriding emotion in the city was determination—to live on, to carry on, to see the storm through and support the _Minerva_ as their avenging sword.

"Everyone is sad..." Stella murmured quietly, her eyes blank as she took in the devastation. Shinn nodded grimly.

"At least we were able to keep the city from being totally destroyed," he said. "But I guess that doesn't matter much at this point."

He glanced to the side at the sound of footsteps, and blinked as two children, a boy and a girl, only slightly younger than himself and covered in dust and dirt, emerged from behind a broken building. Their eyes lit up as they rushed towards the two Gundam pilots.

"_Крылья Света! Он находится здесь в Волгограде!_" the boy exclaimed with a beaming smile. "_Танья, они - те, кто спас нас!_"

"...Stella doesn't understand," Stella started quietly, inching back behind Shinn.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl said, who on closer inspection appeared a bit older than her companion. "Vadim only knows Russian." Her eyes lit up again. "But to think that you were the ones who came here to save us from the Phantoms—!"

"Um, I dunno if you could say we 'saved' you," Shinn started, glancing around the wreckage.

"But you did!" the girl insisted.

"_Скажите ему, что мы хотим пойти с ним!_" the boy added.

"Um, Vadim wants to know if we can go with you," the girl said, glancing back at the boy. "But, I mean, I understand if you say no and all—"

The girl fell silent, and Shinn turned around in surprise at the feeling of another human presence. He felt his blood run cold at the sight of a disheveled boy about the age of the girl in front of him, pushing a wheelbarrow—a wheelbarrow that had slumped in it a human body, wrapped in bandages.

"N-Nikolai," the girl started, "is that...?"

Nikolai smiled emptily, as Shinn felt horror was over him and realized that he could only feel life from the boy, and not the body in the wheelbarrow. "Mother isn't feeling well," he said shakily, "so I'm taking her to the doctor."

He pushed past them all silently, steadily pushing the body down the street and rounding a corner. Shinn watched him go in disbelief, as the two children before him fidgeted nervously.

"Shinn..." Stella started quietly, her eyes wide, "was she...dead?"

Shinn only closed his eyes. "Yeah...she was."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Volgograd Oblast, Russia**

Ivan Danilov could not shake the horrible string of names running through his head. He saw himself among the ranks of the conquerors and butchers of history, who had destroyed cities and lives and humans for their gods, for their leaders, for their greed. The burning cities, the screaming civilians, the camps full of dead...

The most painful truth of all, he realized as he sat in his office aboard the _Charlemagne_, was that equally culpable were the millions of people who saw such atrocities and did nothing to stop them.

Danilov buried his face in his hands. _How can I answer to God for these sins...?_ he wondered. _How can I explain why I bowed my head and gave the order to kill thousands of defenseless people?_

He looked up with a sigh. The rational man of science and logic within him pointed out that to disobey the Phantom Pain commander's orders to her face and before the _Charlemagne_'s crew would have destroyed him, but the man of morals and right and wrong could not accept that. Science had failed him, and so he had to turn back to religion, where he could only hope that God would look into his soul and forgive him even this terrible sin.

He bowed his head, making the sign of the cross. "_От имени отца, и Сына, и Святого Духа_." And with that, he stood up and returned to the bridge.

Crayt Markav was there already, arms crossed, brooding as the _Charlemagne_ lay in wait on the Volga, several kilometers downstream of the city.

"We underestimated that little girl in the Twilight," she said grimly, glancing at Danilov and airily returning his dutiful salute. "I was not expecting her to begin assimilating her prior training at such a rate."

"You mean that's what she was doing in the battle?" Danilov asked.

"The Eurasian Federation trained her to be absolutely unstoppable," Crayt replied. "They trained her to such rigorous standards that once she reached maturity, she could have taken on Kira Yamato and the -X10A Freedom, in a Hyperion unit. They intended from the start to make her so powerful." She scowled. "Now those skills and instincts are beginning to resurface more fully, and are doing her more good in battle than just keeping her alive."

"A pilot who could defeat the Freedom..." Danilov echoed.

"Remind your pilots not to underestimate her," Crayt continued. "She is powerful, but her premature removal from incubation may adversely affect her mental state. There is no telling how many of her memories she will be able to recall, or how quickly she will be able to recall them fully."

"Then how are we to fight such a soldier?" Danilov asked.

Crayt paused with another frown. "Treat her as you do Shinn Asuka or Athrun Zala. Given time and experience, she could soon grow to hold parity with such pilots." She glanced back at Danilov. "I am disembarking in the Euclid. Phantom Island is crossing the Indian Ocean as we speak and will move up into the Persian Gulf. I have a new strategy for the _Minerva_." She looked back out the bridge windows, staring coldly at the smoking ruins of Volgograd. "Bring the _Charlemagne_ in behind the _Minerva_. Their likely target is Novorossiysk. Chase them from the field, down the Euphrates river and into the Persian Gulf. Phantom Island will be waiting for them in the Strait of Hormuz. It's safer to cut them off there than in Suez or the Mandab Strait, and it will expose them to the forces of Mideast Command, to soften them up."

"Understood," Danilov answered, "but we lost many troops in the previous engagement—"

"Phantom Island is sending reinforcements," Crayt said. "Mobile suits will arrive soon to replace your lost numbers. In the meantime," she turned, "I will be off."

Danilov saluted sadly as she left, and could not bear to turn his eyes back towards Volgograd.

—

**March 11th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Volgograd Oblast, Russia**

The fires were still burning, and the smoke still rising, as the _Minerva_ cruised away from Volgograd, heading south towards Novorossiysk. Standing on the ship's observation deck, watching the burning city from afar, Shinn somberly wondered whether or not he would be unable to stop this from happening in Novorossiysk. The reports indicated that Novorossiysk had largely been abandoned in all the fighting—and with the fighting heaviest in the southern half of the city, most citizens had fled to the relatively calmer northern half. That in itself was a shame, to see people uprooted from their homes, but it was a tragedy that could be surmounted. Homes could be replaced; lives could not.

He thought back to the boy pushing his mother's dead body in a wheelbarrow, insisting that she was only feeling under the weather and the doctor could bring her back to health. The girl had explained that after watching his mother sustain horrible burns and die, he had "gone kind of crazy." But Shinn could see in that boy's blank eyes himself, standing on the war-torn Onogoro hillside long ago, staring at what was left of his parents, his sister, his world.

Wasn't that why he had joined ZAFT? To protect people, so that no one would have to know the pain of turning around and finding one's world shattered on the ground? But that power had not saved Volgograd—could it save Novorossiysk?

He tried to push it out of his mind and turn his thoughts towards other things. They inevitably returned to the mysterious burst of power that Emily had shown in Volgograd—tearing through the Devil's Swords, through the _Charlemagne_'s skeleton guard, and through that white Euclid unit. How could she be so powerful? Against the Raider, in faraway Europe, she had fought purely defensively, and it was the Raider's mistakes that had given her victory—and her Newtype abilities had only kept her alive. Against the Rosso Aegis in Karelia, a lone and isolated unit in an aging machine, she was victorious—again, for those abilities and her determination to destroy him. But in Volgograd...

In Volgograd, Shinn could see in Emily himself.

He closed his eyes with a sigh.

—

"The good thing about the Junk Guild," Yolant sighed, standing next to Viveka on the gantry before the silent Savior Gundam, "is that wherever they get this stuff, they get a lot of it." He pointed at the Savior's wings. "There's hardpoints for the ordnance pods the Alliance mounts on the wings of their Jet Striker units. The _ReHOME_ left us with like a friggin' million of those things, so don't be shy about 'em."

Viveka glanced aside awkwardly. "I'll remember that next time we're not trying to stop the Phantom Pain from demolishing a city."

"I guess everyone's fled from Novorossiysk," Yolant added, "so I suppose you don't have to be too worried about collateral damage." He shrugged. "A bummer, I guess. I dunno about you, but I always feel a little better when I hear the cheers from people who see us coming. It's kinda heartwarming." He glanced over at the Destiny awkwardly. "Even for that guy."

Viveka followed his gaze for a moment. "What is it with you guys and Shinn?" she asked. "Especially Vino. Did he kick your puppy or something?"

The look in Yolant's eyes put an end to anymore jokes. "It's not a story worth telling," he answered. "If you know Shinn's history, even the stuff that's just public knowledge, that should tell you everything."

"You got screwed by that whole 'desert from ZAFT in the middle of a decisive battle' thing, huh?"

"Oh, we were the lucky ones, having only been 'screwed,' as you put it," Yolant answered. "At least we didn't _die_."

Viveka glanced back at the Destiny and decided to stop talking.

—

The grandest irony of all, Rau Le Creuset mused as he sat back before his computer terminal, was that he owed this information all to the self-styled soldier for God, Crayt Markav.

The picture was sparse in terms of actual information, but overflowing in logical extrapolations. It was clear that Emily's piloting aptitude was not the doing of merely Newtype prowess, but additionally owed much to some mysterious training. His sources knew nothing of secret training projects involving a little girl, but the picture was becoming far clearer. If Emily was the product of such a program, then Gerhardt essentially selling his daughter into Lord Djibril's service was a gesture of goodwill in far more ways than met the eye—he was giving Djibril direct control over the project that had produced Emily. If she was the product of such a program, then it was likely she had been conceived for such a purpose. After all, Lorelei von Oldendorf had been too ill to be bearing children for any other reason. If she was the product of such a program, then she would be imbued not just with the precognitive talents of a Newtype, but with the instincts and knowledge to put those talents to use.

He thought back gleefully over her short career as pilot of the Twilight Gundam. To last in battle against Kenta Shoyou at all, with her apparent inexperience, let alone to defeat him, was no small feat—where Shoyou had been an experienced and seasoned ace pilot, Emily had been evidently a girl that Shinn Asuka had plucked off the street. To focus her rage into skills that could defeat an experienced pilot like the man that subsequent news reports had identified as Harris Meyers was nothing short of impressive as well.

But that display in Volgograd, white-hot rage and tightly-focused energy, narrowed into a determination he had never seen before...that, it seemed, was a glimpse of what she was truly able to do. Certainly, she had been underestimated and had the element of surprise—and if Marshal Markav would have anything to say about it, the troops on the _Charlemagne_ would not allow Emily either element again. But to think that such power lay within that little girl...

Rau thought ahead eagerly to Novorossiysk and imagined what evils were waiting there.

—

Standing on the exterior deck of the _Minerva_ as it glided over the silent Russian landscape, Meyrin Hawke could see far ahead the imposing dark line of the Caucasus Mountains. Beyond those mountains lay the gateway to the region she feared she would have to guide her crew through, the daunting specter of the Middle East. A land of division and strife since time immemorial, it was the place where Meyrin feared her abilities would be unable to cope. But she was the captain—she _had_ to cope. If a local militia wheeled out its forces, screaming about its god and its people and its territory, to fight the _Minerva_ as it passed through the desert, then Meyrin would have no choice but to fight them. The Resistance was splintered all over the world, but in the Middle East was where it, like everything else, lay shattered.

She glanced towards the hatch as it slowly opened, and the hero of the Resistance emerged onto the deck. Could Shinn Asuka pacify the people who had nothing but their guns and their gods?

"Our course got kind of screwed up, didn't it?" he asked quietly, coming to a rest against the rail next to Meyrin. "I thought we'd be around Okhotsk by now."

Meyrin turned her eyes back to the mountains that stood sentinel before her. "No matter what happens in Novorossiysk, we're probably going to have to pass through Mideast Command," she said. "Which means working with the locals."

Shinn shifted uncomfortably. "The locals are kind of testy over there." He shook his head. "I guess Emily's going to be learning some more of those life lessons she's so fond of. I wonder how she'll take it."

Meyrin smiled thinly. "I think you worry too much about her. She's tougher than I gave her credit for."

"Maybe," Shinn said, "but that's still too much suffering that she's been through, that I'm responsible for, directly or indirectly."

Silence reigned for a moment as Meyrin studied Shinn's face. Taking responsibility for whatever tragedies befell the people he was close to—he felt responsible for his family's death at Onogoro, as though he had failed to protect them, even though he had no power with which to do so. His failures with the Mad Typhoon Gang, his failures with the Orb Raiders, even his desertion of ZAFT weighed heavily on him, as his comrades came after them with revenge in their eyes and betrayal in their hearts.

"Maybe you need to stop blaming yourself," she said. Shinn glanced over at her. "Your own reasoning for bringing Emily in was to save her from winding up like an Extended. And despite all she's been through so far, you of all people should know that it still pales in comparison to what an Extended would be going through." She glanced back bitterly to the north, at the memories of that Phantom Pain unit in Karelia. "Emily should know that too."

"It's not that stuff that I'm worried about," Shinn answered. "It's the future. She's more powerful and more sensitive than even I realized, and I think it started to show in the battle at Volgograd. I don't understand how she got these skills—even with all the training I've been running with her and her inborn skills, she shouldn't have been able to fight like that."

"Well, I'm hearing that she's a rising star in the Resistance," Meyrin began.

Shinn bowed his head. "She was pretty put off by the reception I got at Murmansk."

Even Meyrin couldn't help but smile at that. "She doesn't want to be surrounded by love-struck boys who think she's a hero?"

"_I_ don't want her surrounded by love-struck boys who think she's a hero," Shinn replied. "Whenever you're a hero, you have to live up to a much higher standard...and I don't know how one can prepare for that."

Meyrin cast him a knowing smile. "I think you've figured it out."

—

The Twilight Gundam stood, silent and waiting, in the _Minerva_'s hangar as the mechanics worked on its comrades. Emily stood before it on the gantry, staring emptily up at its darkened eyes.

_My Gundam...my power..._

After some thought, she had come to believe the insistences of her friends that she could not have done anything to save Kyali, even if she had captured the Strike E and brought its abused pilot aboard the _Minerva_. That just made the sting of failure that much harsher—to think that had she succeeded, she would have only been able to watch Kyali waste away, powerless to save her from the fate she so feared. And that made her powers seem that much more useless.

The battle in Volgograd brought that uselessness into sharper and more painful focus—because for all her power, she could only watch as the Phantom Pain smashed buildings and killed people. Even her own attempts to stop them led to nothing more than death. How could she triumph against that kind of evil?

"Emily, what are you doing up?" someone asked. She glanced to the side, finding Athrun Zala emerging onto the gantry with the Infinite Justice's voluminous manual under his arm.

"I couldn't sleep," she started quietly, looking back at the Twilight. "I'm not sleeping too well lately."

"So I've sensed," Athrun agreed, coming up next to her. "I guess it would be redundant to ask you if you're alright."

Emily glanced at the mobile suit next to her own. The Destiny Gundam stood waiting for its next battle.

"How does Shinn deal with this all?" she asked. "Being a Newtype, I mean."

"Why do you think Shinn handles it any better than you do?" Athrun asked back.

Emily closed her eyes and wondered if Athrun could see the hint of a blush on her cheeks. "He's...my protector," she started, hoping that this would sound to Athrun's ears the way she wanted it to sound in her own. "I know that I can count on him to protect me and to try to understand me." She looked back up at Athrun earnestly. "And...I want to understand him too."

Athrun smiled knowingly, and somehow Emily was able to forget the sinking feeling in her heart. "Understanding Shinn is no easy task," he said. "Sometimes I'm not even sure he understands himself."

"But...with all we've been through together, I feel like I should know more about him." She shook her head. "Maybe if I knew him better, I could handle all the stuff I've been through better."

"I suppose," Athrun said with a decidedly noncommittal shrug. "His life would make an interesting story someday, I know. What do you want to know?"

She glanced back at the Destiny. "How did he get here?"

Athrun leaned back against the rail, crossing his arms. "Shinn lived in Orb when he was young," Athrun began. "During the Earth Alliance's invasion of Orb in '71, his family was killed in the crossfire. He went to the PLANTs to join ZAFT, and became a ZAFT Red, one of the top graduates of ZAFT's military academy. He had caught the eye of Chairman Dullindal of the PLANTs himself, and the Chairman had invested a lot of time and energy in gaining Shinn's trust and loyalty. Shinn didn't handle the emergence of his powers very well, and," he glanced pointedly over at the Gaia Gundam, "then he met Stella.

"He took it upon himself to protect Stella, even going so far as to return her to the Alliance when she was captured. The Chairman pardoned him for the crime in hopes of keeping his service, but then Shinn deserted ZAFT in battle with Stella by his side, and they both fled. They were captured by a pirate gang, but eventually decided to fall in with them, being chased by both ZAFT and the Alliance." Athrun's eyes darkened. "The pirates were all killed in battle...so he joined us."

"What do you mean by 'us'?" Emily asked.

"I used to be in a group called the Orb Raiders," Athrun said, long-quashed emotions flickering in his eyes. "Although I understand if we've been forgotten by now. Shinn, Stella, and I are its only survivors." He glanced back at Emily. "But Shinn has had his world violently rearranged four times in his life. So I don't doubt that he understands what you're going through."

Emily looked up sadly at the Destiny as the pieces came together in her mind.

"He doesn't like to talk about his past," Athrun went on. "Especially his time with the pirates. So I don't know just how much went on with them, although I suspect it was something important."

Emily turned her eyes back towards her own Gundam, turning the image of the younger Shinn Asuka over in her mind.

—

**March 12th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Rostov Oblast, Russia**

"Captain Bayan is going to formulate a new plan for dealing with the _Minerva_'s Gundams," Ivan Danilov said grimly, his hands clasped behind his back as he stood on the bridge of his mammoth warship. Outside, a trio of Osprey VTOL cargo planes was peeling away from the lumbering _Charlemagne_ into the morning sky. "I expect him to take command of all the new arrivals shortly."

"Understood, sir," Vera said at his side. "What will our course of action be?"

Danilov closed his eyes, fighting down the bitterness that rose with the thought of his superior. "Marshal Markav's plan to destroy the _Minerva_ in the Strait of Hormuz is sound. It seems that she is conceding Novorossiysk, or at least is cool to the idea of the _Charlemagne_ taking on a strong role there."

Vera glanced awkwardly in the direction of Volgograd, where the tiny puff of smoke was still visible on the horizon.

"When we reach Novorossiysk, we will not follow the example that the Marshal put forth for us in Volgograd," Danilov continued, narrowing his eyes to the southwest, where Novorossiysk was waiting. "The battle there probably gave birth to a few thousand more Resistance fighters. Such attacks are immoral and counterproductive."

"But sir, Volgograd was harboring Resistance—" Vera began.

"That doesn't matter!" Danilov snapped, whirling around to glare at her, and seeing in her eyes that not even she truly believed what she was saying. "The cruelty of people like Markav is what the Resistance is fighting. I am not going to become the ruthless, bloodless caricature of a man that the Resistance's propagandists believe I am. So long as I am the captain of this vessel, this crew will conduct itself with honor and magnanimity. That is what divides the soldier from the murderer. Now go and brief the new pilots."

He turned again, crossing his arms and glaring to the south as Vera sullenly saluted and slinked away.

—

The briefing had been simple—explain to the new pilots what their purpose on this ship would be, familiarize them with the most important members of the crew with whom they would be dealing, organize them into units, and be on their way. And so now, Sven Cal Bayan stood on the gantry overlooking the _Charlemagne_'s hangar, arms crossed, staring grimly at the silent and imposing form of the Strike Noir.

The voice in the back of his head would not be silent.

His thoughts, unbidden, took him back to Volgograd, where he had marched among the flaming buildings and watched coldly as thousands of people were slaughtered by the guns of the Phantom Pain.

_Those were my orders,_ he told himself.

The voice would not be silent. _That's what you always say,_ it answered. Sven cast a testy glance to his right—finding the image of a small child with curly silver hair. He stared into the eyes of his younger self heartlessly.

_I am not here to judge my commanders or the orders they give,_ he reminded the voice. _I am here to do my job._

_And you'll do whatever they ask?_ the child shot back. _You'll follow every order they give? Even if they tell you to destroy the stars?_

Sven flinched at the thought, as the child dug up the ancient memories of untold hours spent in planetariums and observatories, hunched over telescopes pointed to the sweeping vistas of faraway worlds and stars, curled up with the writings of history and modern science's greatest minds in the field of space exploration. The stars were his calling—until the Phantom Pain had entered his life.

_That's right,_ the child went on. _You still love the stars. You still want to leave this world behind and go to new and fantastic ones. This isn't the life you wanted. You never wanted to follow orders and be a killing machine._

_My wants are irrelevant,_ Sven shot back. _My wants are immaterial compared to the objectives and commands of my superiors._

_But we both know that you don't really believe that,_ the child laughed. _Otherwise I wouldn't be here. And you know that._

Sven scowled and walked away.

_Even if they tell me to destroy the stars..._

—

"Y'know," sighed Grey Saiba as he slumped down onto his bunk, "this isn't the sort of thing I signed up for."

He glanced up desolately at Merau as she leaned silently against the wall. "It isn't what anyone expects."

"In history classes, I studied people who did this sort of thing in the past," Grey said, holding his head in his hands. "And they told me that the Resistance fighters were the same kind of people. Y'know, I'm Britain, they're Hitler; I'm America, they're the Soviets...that sort of thing. But now I have to stand there and watch while my side does the same thing the Hitlers and Soviets did. What am I supposed to say to that?"

Merau studied him for a moment and bowed her head. "That's how the world works," she said. "Commiserating over it won't get you anywhere. Maybe you should just forget about it."

Grey frowned. "I can't forget about a massacre, Merau."

"I know," she answered. "And it's wrong to forget about a massacre. But you're going to die if you let it stop you." She glanced awkwardly out the porthole. "You have to be strong to survive in this world."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Rostov Oblast, Russia**

The Twilight stood as the imposing backdrop for Shinn Asuka and Athrun Zala as they both leaned against the gantry railing, staring up at it.

"My training can't have been enough for that show of force," Shinn said grimly, glancing over at Athrun. "I haven't given her that much work. So there must be something else at work."

"I agree," Athrun said dourly. "But I can't imagine what it could be. If she were trained already, she wouldn't have shown the sort of fear she did in her earlier sorties. Even poor training irons that fear out of you first."

Shinn glanced down at the floor. "I suspect Rau knows."

"We'd never get it out of him if he did, though. He would withhold that information just so that he can have control over it." A distasteful glance at the Legend Gundam. "Maybe they just underestimated her and it lent her the appearance of being so powerful. It's not like she's given anyone reason to suspect she has such power. Even we didn't see it coming, and we're the ones who took her in on the basis of her being powerful."

Shinn heaved a sigh. "I guess we'll know for sure," he said, "when we get to Novorossiysk."

—

Emily found herself surprised to be standing on the _Minerva_'s exterior deck, in the fading light of the sun, with Rau Le Creuset by her side. She glanced up at the tall masked man, but his face was inscrutable.

"Novorossiysk will likely be a similar ordeal as Volgograd," he warned her suddenly. "You would do well to brace yourself for such feelings again."

Emily looked to the horizon, where the formidable city and its warring factions were waiting. "Why do people do things like this...?" she wondered. "Killing so many people..."

"The Resistance is an insurgency," Rau explained with a shrug. "There are only two ways to destroy an insurgency; capture the support of the public through which the insurgents must move, or slaughter so much of the public as to leave few people for the insurgents to move through. The Phantom Pain cannot match the charisma and ability to captivate the support of the oppressed and impoverished that the Resistance has. Therefore, they turn to murder to terrify the population into submission."

"But it didn't work," Emily answered. "It just made people mad."

"If you apply enough force, then the people will fear," Rau said. "The Phantom Pain did not apply enough force in Volgograd."

Emily buried her face in her hands. "That doesn't explain how people can be so evil..."

Finally, Rau allowed himself a knowing smile. "Good and evil are points of view," he said. "War like this is the inevitable result between people who cannot see that. Lord Djibril does not oppress the world and slaughter Coordinators and so-called collaborators because he believes what he is doing is evil or wrong. No one acts in such a way." His smile widened. "Even in his own way, he wants peace."

—

**Washington, D.C., Atlantic Federation**

"So many names."

The words drifted through the night, as the man watched the curling wisps of breath before him dissipate into the biting cold. He glanced around his darkened surroundings—a park, well-kept but clearly no longer frequented by armies of visitors. His bodyguards had set up a perimeter, while he stood on a stone walkway, at the center of a sprawling memorial.

The war itself had been fought long ago. The cultural and social trauma that it brought on those who saw their sons sent off to fight it, the suffering of the ones who did the fighting, the abstract political ideals and consequences that all were told were worth the cost...they were all somewhere beneath the dust of history. The ones who had fought it and survived it were all long gone now. It was locked in the vault of the past. The man knew that.

He took a step forward, reaching out and putting a gloved hand against the wall, and beneath it, he tried to read the names. They were meaningless to him, and yet they could not have meant more. Thousands of names stretched out to either side of him, testament to the toll of that long-ago war—that each and every dead soldier was an individual, wrenched from a home, torn from a family.

He closed his eyes and imagined how many names could be added to a wall of those he had allowed to die.

"Sir," said a young woman at his side, wrapped in a heavy overcoat and clutching a handgun nervously, "the park is still clear. But I cannot stress enough the risk we are taking out here."

"I understand, Callista," he answered, not taking his eyes from the wall. "We are here to meet with local members of the Resistance, and in lieu of a visit from Chiao Xu, I must substitute. I know." He paused, his eyes scanning over the names that had no faces and still broke his heart. "But as long as we're here, I want to visit this place, and remind myself of why this war must end." He bowed his head. "So that we may never need to make another wall like this."

"I know, sir," Callista said. "But we're right under Vasserot's nose—"

"Vasserot cannot smell anything past the decay of his own soul," the man interrupted. "No man who looks upon this wall and still believes that politics is worth lives can understand that."

Callista paused for a moment. "Rafael says that the police patrols will be passing by in fifteen minutes."

"Then we must become as shadows, mustn't we," the man answered. "This is a peculiar memorial. There's no celebration of the justness of the cause or the victories of the war or the glory of the men who fell in battle. Not even ranks are listed. All that one can see are the names; the sacrifice stands alone, each name as meaningless and meaningful, painful and unnecessary, as the last and the next." He paused. "It's as a memorial to the dead should be."

Callista glanced at him for a moment, but said nothing.

"I once had the power to stop such a slaughter," he continued. "But I didn't use it, because I was a coward."

"That is the past now, sir," Callista pointed out. "Now you are the envoy of Chiao Xu, and you have power, and you are using it. So please, sir, do not be dragged down by your demons—and let's get going, before we get dragged down by the police."

The man smiled bitterly and turned. "Very well, Callista. Lead the way."

With a final, solemn glance over his shoulder, Joseph Copland walked away.

—

To be continued...


	24. Phase 24: Of Kings and Pawns

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 24 - Of Kings and Pawns

—

**March 12th, CE 77 - Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., Atlantic Federation**

A roomful of senators and assorted other Congressional representatives that Seri contemptuously referred to as "Congress-critters" was not Senator Robert Meyers' ideal company—he had little actual liking for his colleagues—but in the interests of his agenda, his plans, his dreams, it was a necessary evil. And so Senator Meyers sat before the movers and shakers of his party, as they muttered amongst themselves and undoubtedly imagined that they had their Majority Leader's number.

Meyers would allow them that luxury for now, however. It was nice to believe things, and through his raven-haired little enforcer, he had enough dirt on every being in this room to end their political careers in one fell swoop.

"I'm sure you all understand the situation," he said, as his colleagues fell silent and leaned in to listen. "President Vasserot's approval ratings remain ambivalent, but Lord Djibril's remain high. Clearly Djibril is the far-preferred leader to our dear president. That is why I propose that we make our move."

"Meyers, that's too hasty," protested one jowly old man. "You know that impeachment is a move only suited to high crimes and misdemeanors."

"But we do have a case for it," another senator pointed out.

"Our case for it is highly open to interpretation," someone shot back. "We would have to rely on our ability to sell our interpretation—"

"The machinery of impeachment is not meant to settle political differences!" the first man exclaimed.

"Senator," Meyers responded, silencing the room, "I would appreciate it if you did not patronize me with platitudes from men made of marble." He glanced around at the rest of his colleagues, strangling their protests. "Let's not pretend that we can seamlessly apply the wisdom of men that lived hundreds of years ago to the problems of the modern world. This is the way it has always been. Our ancestors placed those men on pedestals and left them there, encasing their cores and ideals with a shiny coat of marble, and then went about the business of reality." He fixed his gaze on the jowly legislator that had spoken first. "And that's why we must use the tools at our disposal, regardless of what those statues might think."

"Meyers—" the man started.

"Our case is strong," Meyers continued, "but the winds of global politics bode poorly for our party and our agenda. Lord Djibril's enduring popularity among the Atlantic Federation will ensure that he can buy support for any creature he chooses to continue his legacy here. Reportedly, he had lost Joseph Copland's support in private, and would not have been long in losing it in public had it not been for Copland's disappearance. Vasserot has been the perfect and unquestioning pawn for Djibril. We must remove and discredit that pawn. That is where the strength of this ancient tool lies. Legally, our case is flimsy, but we have the great fortune of trying this not in a court of law, but in the court of public opinion. And such things as connections to the cover-up of the New Manhattan Massacre and business affiliations with corporations that are carrying out Extended research will easily sway that court to our side. Vasserot will fall, and the forces that will knock him down are forces too powerful for even Djibril to resist."

"So now is the time to make our move," someone concluded.

"We must act slowly, and release the various pieces of information we have gathered gradually," Meyers pointed out. "We must be cognizant of the context we are releasing this information into, so as not to arouse suspicion. But at the right speed and in the right setting, we can create a perfect storm that will knock Vasserot from office," he smiled, "and deliver that power into our hands."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Krasnodar Krai, Russia**

"We will be relentless in our attacks, and we will not stop until Lord Djibril and his men are driven from the Holy Land!" the bearded man on the screen screamed, standing before an adoring sea of followers. "We do not fear death, for we know that Almighty God is on our side! They have brought this punishment on themselves!"

Standing wearily on the bridge of the _Minerva_ and watching the spectacle on the main screen, Abbey Windsor could only shake her head. Meyrin glanced up at her from the captain's chair, with a piping mug of hot soup in hand.

"I don't understand why people keep falling for this," Abbey said. "Where did these fanatics and superstitions come from? I thought we were all better than this."

Meyrin glanced back at the screen, taking a sip. "I guess when people feel that everything else is failing them, they return to religion. This is a pretty turbulent world we live in. Most people in the Earth Sphere live in poverty, and we've been fighting what seems like one big, long war for the past eight years. Where would you turn, if you lived a life like that, if not to God?"

"But this isn't the first time some charlatan claiming to have the word of God has cropped up," Abbey pointed out. "Are they forgetting that?"

"People forget lots of things, and the word of God is a lot more comforting than a long-winded explanation about economics and politics," Meyrin replied. "Either way it boils down to forces beyond your control, and you can't pray to the invisible hand and DNA to make your life better." She took another sip. "So if they want to believe in God, let them."

"It's not believing in God that's the problem," said Abbey. "It's when you start deciding that God wants you to do things to other people—and from there, when you decide that God wants you to kill people." She glanced again at the screen, this time with distinct distaste. "I can't see how we can work with these people."

"Well, then you're not talking about God, you're talking about people." Meyrin sat back. "As for working with them, I don't like it either, but we don't really have a choice. The Resistance wouldn't exist if everybody didn't hate Lord Djibril more than they hate each other."

She closed her eyes, taking another sip of soup, and dug back into the reaches of her memory. Whenever she had free time, she seized the chance to read voraciously, struggling to increase her understanding of the world she was leading this ship through. It was not so much an innate curiosity—although that element was present—but a need to have answers when her crew had questions. She could not keep turning to Athrun or Shinn or Rau for advice. The answers had to come from her.

"I hate to interrupt this rousing socio-theological discussion," Roxy put in wearily, "but I'm guessing you'd like to be aware that the EAF bigwig in Novorossiysk is making a statement."

Duly, the screen switched to the narrow, hawkish face of the Novorossiysk detachment's commander, Richard Yeager, in the starched green uniform of a brigadier general in the Earth Alliance Army. Meyrin suppressed the urge to sneer as she watched him soak up the attention the press was freely lavishing upon him—a general for the cameras, clearly. But hopefully that would mean he would lack the skills of a commander tested in battle—and hopefully whoever was _really_ running the show in Novorossiysk would be easier to dispatch.

"Recently," the general began, "it has come to my attention that we will be having some high-profile guests in the Novorossiysk combat zone. Reports indicate that the Resistance battleship _Minerva_ is on its way to assist the Resistance forces still holding out in the city and the outskirts."

"General!" a reporter exclaimed. "What are your plans for dealing with a unit as formidable as the _Minerva?_"

Clearly, General Yeager enjoyed being the man who was claimed to have the answers—and Meyrin had to admit that the thought of wiping that smug grin off his face was a warming one.

"Obviously, for operational integrity's sake, I cannot specify those plans," he said, "but let me assure you that we are quite prepared to deal with the _Minerva_. I am fully aware that they have a long string of victories behind them, but my brigade will not become another one of their kills."

"Oh, he'll regret saying that," Roxy commented with a grin.

"Let him boast," Abbey said. "Maybe he'll say something dumb that can help us."

"Novorossiysk is mostly abandoned," Meyrin added, looking grimly towards the horizon, "so there won't be any holding back from our mobile suits." Even she had to smile. "I'd like to see what he's got that he thinks can stop Shinn Asuka."

—

As the angry cries of a mob and their leader were replaced by the dull and colorless words of the anchor, Emily slumped down tiredly into her seat in the _Minerva_'s crew lounge, trying and failing to listen. It seemed that the man's complaints were only tangentially related to Lord Djibril, though—and that made Emily wonder exactly what he was fighting for. She glanced around the table, finding Auel, Sting, and Shinn staring in boredom at the screen as well.  
"Isn't that the son of a bitch that assassinated Lawson?" Auel asked wearily.

"Yeah, the bomb in '76," Sting answered.

The name sparked some terrible memories—Emily thought back to the cruel, hawkish face of Russell Lawson, the brutal administrator of the Greater Palestine District, the man who had ordered the bombing of refugee camps. The stories made one's flesh crawl. When representatives of those refugees came to meet with the governor-general to negotiate a ceasefire, Lawson told them to wait in a conference room—which he then filled with nerve gas. Surely if any man deserved to be blown to bits, it was Russell Lawson...right?

"What's so bad about him...?" Emily asked. Shinn glanced at her.

"They hit Lawson's car with a bomb," he explained. "When it went off, it took out a van full of school kids as well."

Emily blanched, looking back at the bearded firebrand on the screen. "You mean he killed children?"

"Yeah, they were 'martyrs,'" snorted Sting. "Must be pretty easy to martyr yourself when you don't know you're doing it, huh?"

"Then how can we work with people like that?" Emily asked, turning to Shinn, hoping he would be the man with the answer.

"It's more complicated than that," Shinn said quietly.

"But he killed children! That's just as evil as anything Lawson did!"

"I know," Shinn answered, furrowing his brow, "but...the world's not that simple." He looked back up at the screen. "You can't boil people down to just good or evil. There's more to everyone than that."

Emily considered that for a moment. "Even that guy that was Kyali's officer?"

She could see Shinn wince at the thought. "I'm sure he had more motivations than just evil," he answered. "That doesn't make any of what he did right. But it's the truth."

Emily sat back silently and tried to imagine what could have motivated Colonel Meyers.

—

Mementos were not high on the list of priorities for Athrun Zala; he did not generally require tangible objects to be infused with symbolic meanings in order to appreciate memories and sentiments. But there was one such trinket that not even Athrun's Spartan demeanor could bear to part with.

Stretched out on his bunk on the _Minerva_, Athrun stared emptily at Cagalli's red pendant. As the passage of time failed to dull the sharpness of the pain, the pendant—her parting gift to him as he returned to the PLANTs with his hollow victory over the Strike Gundam in hand—had found a permanent home around Athrun's neck, hidden under his shirt, safe from prying eyes. He regarded it carefully for a moment—it called to mind the good memories, the stolen kisses, the tender moments where Athrun and Cagalli could pretend that they weren't trying to be teenage revolutionaries, and could just pretend that they were two people in love.

With those memories, however, came the bitter realization that Cagalli had never really wanted to be just a teenager in love.

It had occurred to Athrun more than once that giving him this pendant was the only way Cagalli felt comfortable expressing herself—infusing an inanimate object with symbolic meaning that would not leave herself vulnerable. And the shadowy second side to the memories of those stolen kisses reinforced that thought. Even without Newtype senses, Athrun had always detected a degree of awkwardness on Cagalli's part, as if her guard had been down and she had to remind herself that this was what teenagers did when they were in love.

Of course, Athrun Zala was more than disciplined enough to suppress his desires and urges for the greater good. The stern soldier's voice of his father reminded him again that there were few things in the world less important than his own satisfaction, when compared to such a cause—and so Athrun was willing and able to shelve his own feelings. But those urges did not submit quietly, and in those haunting moments of self-doubt, Athrun had to wonder how long he could go on pretending to be the princely bodyguard and enforcer that deep down he knew he was not.

The more he thought about it—a painful endeavor, he had long ago discovered—the more resolutely he came to the conclusion that his relationship with Cagalli had been less of a relationship and more of Cagalli constantly asking things of him; asking him to suppress his desire to be like any other teenage couple, asking him to sacrifice the life of a normal boy his age so that together they could accomplish something greater than themselves, asking him to throw himself into the inferno of war time and time again. He never felt as though she was willfully taking advantage of him—Cagalli, after all, had possessed all the social skills of a rhinoceros—but it was wearying to see her always asking things of him and never giving anything in return. He supposed that had she devoted the same kind of thought to their relationship as he was, she would conclude that her thanks to Athrun would be a place to call home...but that had not quite panned out.

And so, Athrun Zala ruefully had to wonder whether or not that relationship would really have lasted.

He looked back down at the pendant. He would never discard it—that would mean abandoning his last link to Cagalli, and by extension, to Yzak, to Dearka, to Mwu, to Andy, to Murrue, to Lacus...the names went on. Some part of him, the same part that refused to accept that Cagalli was dead, was determined to make their dormant relationship work. He could not be alone—not left without anyone by his side, left only with his combat skills. Once that was all he had left, he had no life worth living.

He would become Kira.

Athrun closed his fist around Cagalli's pendant.

—

**Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., Atlantic Federation**

"Senator Reed's death is a terrible tragedy," read Robert Meyers as his secretary furiously copied it down, "and my office and I send our heartfelt condolences to his friends and family. As one of the senator's closest colleagues, I assure the people of the Atlantic Federation that his work of investigating and prosecuting organizations aiding the Resistance will not go unfinished. It is a duty that we, as his colleagues, will take up in honor of his lifelong commitment to purging our government of corruption." He sat back, pondering for a moment. "I think that's sufficient."

The secretary scuttled out of the office, and Meyers cast his coal-black eyes towards Seri, standing halfway in the shadows with a troubled look on her face as the door slid shut.

"All the telltale signs of a Resistance attack were in place, sir," she said quietly, after a moment's hesitation. "And with Reed's work against the Resistance's corporate and charity benefactors in the Atlantic Fed, they're the first ones people would suspect in an assassination."

Meyers chuckled. "Your handiwork is as thorough as ever." He turned his chair back towards his computer. "That sniveling milquetoast would have derailed all our plans anyway. He would have ruined a life's work."

"Yes sir," Seri murmured.

A dark grin flashed over Meyers' face. "Soon we will be able to drop all this subterfuge," he said. "Soon the people will speak."

—

**Heaven's Base, Iceland**

Lord Djibril's vast wall of screens went dark, and the man himself sat back in his chair, brooding. The images of the burning wreckage were still fresh in his mind—Senator Reed, the noted anti-corruption legislator who fought against the Resistance's corporate allies, had been assassinated via car bomb. All of the preliminary signs pointed towards a Resistance cell in the country, but Djibril's own intelligence network pointed to a far more unsettling source.

Djibril pondered the daunting figure of Robert Meyers, Majority Leader of the Atlantic Federation Senate. He was a powerful man—surely he planned to do something with that power. The pundits believed that he was planning on harnessing the ever-formidable wave of populism to sweep himself into the presidency and unseat the aging Evander Vasserot.

That was certainly unsettling—Vasserot was completely pliable and obedient where Joseph Copland had been restive. Vasserot showed no signs of losing his stomach for this war, and that was important. Djibril could not have the leader of one of the world's dominant superpowers not at his disposal. This war could not be won without the guns and the soldiers of the Atlantic Federation.

Djibril snapped his fingers, and smiled at the tap of combat boots on the polished steel floor of his screening room.

"Misa," he said, looking at the reflection in the screens of the thin, dark, feminine figure over his shoulder. "I have a task for you, concerning one Senator Robert Meyers."

"Do you wish me to kill him, sir?" answered Misa.

Djibril relished the thought for a moment, then quashed it. "Not yet," he said. "Espionage. I need leverage against this senator should he decide not to content himself with toppling Vasserot." He paused meaningfully. "I'm sure you understand."

"Of course, sir," she said, and an instant later, she was gone.

Djibril sat back, brooding. _My fortress is unassailable. This time no one will stop us._

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Krasnodar Krai, Russia**

"I find it odd," Danilov said quietly, sitting back on the bridge of the _Charlemagne_ and watching the news reports idly, "that so many of Robert Meyers' supporters are targets of the Resistance."

At his side, Vera glanced up at the screen indifferently. "But Senator Reed's pet project was hunting down organizations aiding the Resistance. He even shut down charities."

"He was also a man who adhered rigidly to the precepts of the Atlantic Federation's oldest governmental documents," Danilov said. "Such that many of his allies felt he was being anachronistic. And with all the corruption in governments these days, I wouldn't be surprised if a colleague or a colleague's staff decided that he was," a pause, "_too_ troublesome."

"Surely a member of the Atlantic Federation Senate would not have a colleague _assassinated,_" Vera said, blinking at her captain.

"Oh, there are other entities that could be responsible for it," Danilov added with a shrug. "The corporations, for example. The Resistance is a great market for arms dealers who are currently locked in contracts with the Alliance. But Senator Meyers has great ambitions, and I find it odd that the lawmakers being assassinated are the ones that could be construed as obstacles to Meyers' plans."

Vera shuffled uneasily with her clipboard, and Danilov sensed that the weaknesses of the home front were not something she wanted to talk about. "The survivors we picked up from the _Bonaparte_ arrived at Andrews AFB an hour ago," she said awkwardly. "The colonel's remains will be interred in Arlington."

Danilov narrowed his eyes at the thought of the colonel. Rumors had it that he had been using an Extended—and Danilov could not summon the will to respect a colleague, even a late colleague, who used an Extended.

Between assassinations and human weapons, he sometimes had to wonder if he was on the right side.

—

Sven Cal Bayan eyed the two pilots before him coolly. Grey Saiba and Merau Seraux had both commanded mobile suit squads in battle, with adequate results—and they had proven able enough to survive against the _Minerva_'s Gundams, if not damage them. The duo seemed to be the most promising pair of regular Windam pilots aboard the _Charlemagne_, and in the wake of that rather disastrous battle in Volgograd, a change of tactics was called for.

"In light of recent developments, we've decided to change our combat tactics against the _Minerva_," he said to the two pilots sitting before him in his room. "Leading teams of mobile suits against the _Minerva_'s Gundams has proven to be ineffective, so we will rely on individual skilled pilots to tie up certain machines, while the bulk of our Windam force will stay behind in range of the _Charlemagne_'s guns, to lure in the rest of the _Minerva_'s Gundams. With this tactic, we hope to split their forces and isolate two sets of enemies. Ensign Saiba, Ensign Seraux, you two will be the first assigned to the role of actively attacking enemies in battle. Are there any questions?"

"No sir," they both answered. Sven dismissed them, and turned towards Shams, watching from the wall next to the door with boredom written across his face.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Shams asked wearily. "The files on those two said that they're pretty good at not getting killed by the enemy, but they're not so great at killing the enemy."

"They graduated from Volkov Crater with some of the highest marks of their class," Sven answered.

"So did all those guys who got blown away at Volgograd."

Sven turned indifferently towards the door. "We will only be able to ascertain this strategy's effectiveness in battle. Picking it apart now would be futile."

Shams heaved a sigh, this time in irritation. "Don't be like that, Sven. We don't need to get our pilots killed just to see if your idea works."

"War demands sacrifice." He paused as his computer terminal beeped, and he threw a switch. The screen flickered to life, and Shams looked on in surprise.

"Sven, baby, I've been trying to reach you all day!" a woman's voice cooed.

Sven's eye twitched irritably. "Lieutenant Ramos," he said, "I trust you have something to report."

"That's Irene?" Shams coughed, struggling to contain his laughter.

"I can't just check in on my favorite man?" the voice on the other end purred. "With you it's always business." Irene's pouting face was replaced by a wall of text and diagrams. "I broke into the Director's medical files while he was away and snagged a copy of his family's blood work and brainwave charts. I don't know what to make of it, but there's strange highlights on the charts for his wife and youngest daughter."

"The _Charlemagne_'s doctor will know what to make of this," Sven said. "Is there anything else?"

"Just the corrupt dealings of a morally bankrupt bureaucrat," Irene sighed. She glanced over her shoulder. "Looks like I'd better go. Love ya!" She blew a kiss towards the screen as it went dark.

Shams finally doubled over with laughter, and Sven said nothing as he copied the medical records. "I will take these records to the doctor after some editing," he said, sitting down at his terminal.

"After your amorous love letter back to Irene," Shams chuckled. "Oh man, I needed that."

Sven ground his teeth and set to work.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, outside Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia**

An aging Mi-24V helicopter that looked to be held together as much by bubble gum and duct tape as by rivets and bolts was not exactly stylish transportation, but in the armory of the Resistance, it was good as any other more modern vehicle. As it creaked to a stop in the hangar of the _Minerva_, Meyrin glanced worriedly at Abbey, wondering if the thing wasn't going to spontaneously combust.

"If he came here in that thing," Abbey said quietly, "he's braver than I thought."

The side hatch yawned open, and after a trio of mud-spattered guerrillas streamed out, the man of the hour emerged. Meyrin looked over the diminutive man in black, leaning heavily on a gnarled walking stick, with a thin black turban and a bushy white beard.

"_Salaam,_" the man said with a short bow. Meyrin and Abbey answered him with a crisp salute. "I am Mullah Hasid, the leader of the Resistance forces around Novorossiysk. And I must say up front that I greatly appreciate your assistance." He paused. "And I'm certainly surprised to see children no older than my own grandchildren in command of this ship."

"There are people younger than either of us fighting this war," Meyrin said, crushing her annoyance as she gestured towards the door. "What's the situation in Novorossiysk?

Hasid held back a sigh as they headed into the ship, and Meyrin needed no Newtype powers to see that whatever the situation was, it was something that kept the mullah up at night. "General Yeager commands a full brigade plus reinforcing elements from around the Black Sea region. His men hold control of the southern half of the city, including the port. Our fleet lies in wait near the Strait of Kerch, ready to attack, but our forces are disorganized along a line stretching across the city." His eyes darkened. "They've set up a prison camp in a empty lot in the southern part of the city, to process prisoners before shipping them to more...unforgiving prisons. And I fear they're slaughtering people there."

"That would not be unheard of for the Alliance," Abbey agreed grimly.

"Some of those prisoners should still be able to fight," Hasid went on. "If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to have one of your Gundams lead the men I have assigned to free those prisoners. To fight alongside a Gundam is an honor that I'm sure will boost their morale."

Meyrin forced a smile. "It won't be a problem. I know just the pilots for such a job."

—

**Phantom Island, Indian Ocean**

It was a towering construct that sprawled over a thousand meters and towered up over five hundred. It was Phantom Island, the mobile headquarters of the Phantom Pain, able to force itself up to speeds rivaling that of ZAFT's _Lesseps_-class over the open ocean, armed with nearly three hundred mobile suits and dozens of fixed armaments. And it was these iron walls that Crayt Markav called home.

Marshal Markav's Osprey VTOL plane, housing her white Euclid mobile armor, jolted to a halt on Phantom Island's main landing pad. The extendable gangway reached out to the plane's hatch; it swung open with a hiss, and Crayt Markav set foot back home.

There she was greeted by the crisp military figure of Major General Jeffrey O'Brien, commandant of Phantom Island. "Marshal, welcome back to Phantom Island," he said, extending his hand for a perfunctory handshake, and falling into step beside his commander. "We should be in position in the Strait of Hormuz in five days."

"The _Charlemagne_ has orders to chase the _Minerva_ down south through Mideast Command," Crayt said, with a thin smile. "I'm sure General Abdulmalik will exact from them a grim toll, and they will be all the easier to destroy at Hormuz."

"Resistance forces from around eastern Europe and central Asia are converging on Novorossiysk," O'Brien added. "Should we commit more forces to the battle ourselves?"

Crayt waved him off. "I'm willing to allow the Resistance to marshal their forces in one place. It will make them easy to destroy in one fell swoop. It's our great fortune that Chiao Xu was a fool to adopt this strategy."

"Additionally, ma'am," O'Brien went on, "I've been asked to inform you that the _Witch's Hammer_ has docked at Baku. The Night Tiger team may involve itself with this operation."

Crayt's visage darkened. "Djibril is meddling in our affairs again, but that is no matter. The Resistance is walking into a trap of its own making." She cast a sinister smile at O'Brien. "Take heart, general. God is with us."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, outside Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia**

The screen was alive with the images of battle, and standing around the simulator, Shinn Asuka had to admit that under his tutelage, Emily had simply polished off skills that already seemed to be present. And that made him wonder why she seemed to take so easily to fighting.

As the Twilight Gundam gutted a charging BuCUE with the skill of a veteran swordfighter, Shinn glanced over at the two other spectators. Athrun Zala was silent, his mind clearly working as that of a soldier evaluating a combat performance. But there was some worry etched into the battle-worn features of Emily's older sister, Viveka.

"I wonder if I did the right thing, taking her in," Shinn wondered aloud. Athrun and Viveka glanced at him in surprise.

"Why would you think that you didn't?" Athrun asked.

"I don't really think it's something to be proud of if you can slaughter whole squadrons of mobile suits in combat at age sixteen," Shinn answered. "Certainly wasn't the life I had in mind."

"Well, _I'm_ glad you found her," Viveka added, putting her hands on her hips.

"Sooner or later the Alliance would have gotten to her, had you not taken her in," continued Athrun. "You acknowledged that yourself."

"I was hoping that she wouldn't have gone through all the shit she wound up going through," Shinn answered. He shook his head ruefully. "I saw so much of myself in her, and I wanted to protect her from all that stuff where I couldn't save myself. And I blew it."

"Hey, at least you care if she's getting hurt or not," Viveka said with a shrug.

"At the very least, I understand why you want to protect her," Athrun added. "And it's for the best that she is brought into this new world by people who care about her."

Shinn leaned back against the rail and sighed. "I wish I could protect everyone."

Athrun closed his eyes. "But it's impossible to protect everyone."

—

**Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, Atlantic Federation**

"The reality, sergeant, is that we simply don't have the space to keep you here," the orderly said, clipboard in hand and looming over the bedside of Sergeant Gregory Hayden in his cramped and tiny hospital room. "We have so many wounded coming in that if you aren't in critical need of this room, we have to send you home in favor of those who _do_ need it."

Hayden nodded slowly. "I understand," he said. "That must be a hard decision to make."

"Yeah, and be glad you don't have to make it," the orderly said. "There's a man in the ER getting his legs reconstructed after they pulled him out of his mangled Windam. He'll probably be in here tonight, so I'd advise you get packed and get going soon. It's not gonna be a pretty sight in here."

The orderly took his leave, and Hayden pulled himself out of bed and gingerly lifted his almost empty duffel bag. He had taken few possessions with him aboard the _Bonaparte_, and what could be recovered was now in this bag, along with a uniform. He slowly pulled on the standard issue jackboots of the Phantom Pain.

Staring down at his boots, he considered something, and then rolled his pant legs down over the boots. They did not deserve to be seen.

Standing up was a challenge, as was walking, but he was a soldier. He could do this.

Gregory Hayden emerged into the crisp morning sun with a sigh, breathing in a lungful of air that graciously lacked the peculiar sterile smell of a hospital. He was out, back on his feet, seeing the world with his own two eyes again.

He looked to the sky, empty. Empty as that hangar brace aboard the _Bonaparte_, where the Extended's machine had been.

_I'm a soldier, and I follow orders,_ he thought. _Isn't that how it works?_

He thought back to those horrible news reports that finally compelled him to join the Phantom Pain. He saw the soldier with the dull eyes, but instead of the grimy Resistance guerrillas, he saw her surrounded by the black-coated soldiers of the Phantom Pain.

_I'm not a monster,_ he reminded himself.

And so he turned and headed down towards the street. The Resistance was waiting.

—

To be continued...


	25. Phase 25: Novorossiysk

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 25 - Novorossiysk

—

**March 13th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, outside Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia**

Standing tall on the bridge of the _Minerva_, all eyes expectantly turned towards him and all ears awaiting his opinion, Rau Le Creuset pushed aside the urge to smile. It was certainly ironic, and there were few things he loved more than irony, but it was time to work—and just as certainly, the thrill of battle could not be ignored.

The _Minerva_ had momentarily set down outside Novorossiysk to survey the situation, before plunging headlong into what appeared to most observers to be certain doom. The Alliance had fortified this city well. The distinct blue and white Windams of the Alliance Army held the southern and eastern portions of the city, including the all-important seaport that was Novorossiysk's prime reason of existence. But amid the towering mobile suits and the armored vehicles and the imposing sentinels of the Alliance Navy's flotilla in port, Rau could pick out one shape that spoke more. In what appeared to be an old abandoned rail yard, against the backdrop of a _Siegfried_-class carrier plane, he could spy a familiar insectoid hull.

"They have a Gelzuge mobile armor among their ranks," Rau observed. "The Alliance has modified their Gelzuges to serve as command and control units on the battlefield. I imagine that is the headquarters of this region's commander."

"Our intelligence bears that assessment out as well," Hasid agreed. "However, he's also fielded a number of Euclid mobile armors. He uses those to defend his most critical pieces of hardware and command infrastructure, so that our men are never able to score a decisive victory against his troops."

Meyrin stepped promptly into the role of the captain. "Mobile armor search and destroy is our specialty," she put in. "We'll take care of the mobile armors. You just keep your men worried about the conventional forces, and we should all be okay."

"Assuming all goes to plan," Abbey added.

"We'll leave the conventional combat to your men," Meyrin said to Hasid. "You just need to concentrate on holding them at their current lines. We'll handle those mobile armors and the Gelzuge, and once they're all done, we'll join you and mop up the remaining Alliance units." She glanced out over the city, her eyes falling on the Gelzuge. "Are you certain that the areas we'll likely be fighting in are abandoned?"

"As certain as we can manage," Hasid answered, "given our priority has been elsewhere. But we're confident that the presence of the _Minerva_ will bring us victory."

Meyrin suppressed a sigh. "We'll see." She took up the intercom, pressing down the doubt. "All pilots, this is Captain Hawke..."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Krasnodar Krai, Russia**

All things considered, Ivan Danilov could not see the man on the screen as one really suited to commanding a heavily reinforced Alliance brigade that was waging a high-profile campaign against the Resistance in Novorossiysk. Brigadier General Richard Yeager resembled a cookie-cutter politician far more than he did a soldier. Clearly he was there to put a good face on the occupation. Danilov then had to wonder who was actually in charge of this campaign, but it was protocol that he contact the man highest in the rank first.

"Captain Danilov," Yeager said in surprise as he turned in his command center, saluting the Phantom Pain officer. Danilov saluted back; with his Phantom Pain authority, his rank had the authority of one rank higher than his own over regular forces, which technically made himself and Yeager equals...although Danilov hated to undercut a commander's authority simply because of technicalities. "I see you've brought quite the foe in ahead of you."

"We suspect that this was their target all along," Danilov answered. "The _Minerva_ is likely to join the Resistance forces in this city, and I need not remind you that the addition of the _Minerva_ makes any opponent a formidable one."

"I understand," Yeager answered, "but I believe everyone is underestimating the troops I have gathered here. We have rigged numerous city blocks with traps for both infantry and armor, including mobile suits, and with the addition of your forces, I believe we could move in behind them and split the enemy force in two."

"The _Minerva_ is well aware that we're pursuing them," Danilov warned, "and I'm sure that they're preparing for such a contingency." He paused, wondering if it would be against protocol to inform Yeager of sensitive Phantom Pain orders, and then decided that protocol could go do something anatomically impossible to itself. "Additionally, I have orders from Marshal Markav herself to force the _Minerva_ from the field in Novorossiysk. She has something special in mind."

Yeager stiffened in his chair at the mention of the Phantom Pain's chilling commander. "We will be successful here," he answered, "of that I am certain. Marshal Markav's plan will not need to come to pass."

Danilov turned that over in his mind for a moment. "Very well then, general," he answered at last. "My troops will attack from the rear as soon as we are in position."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, outside Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia**

The ground trembled with the footsteps of dozens of mobile suits, moving into formation around the winged and battered hull of the venerable _Minerva_. Through the Twilight's eyes, Emily could see the motley army as it formed, filled as much by infantry, armored vehicles, and helicopters as by proper mobile suits. The halting knowledge of military tactics that survival had dictated she glean told her that these troops would be slaughtered in battle...and so she steeled herself for the terrible feeling.

"We're splitting you guys up into teams," Roxy explained through the Twilight's cockpit. Emily glanced over her Gundam's shoulder, finding the rest of the _Minerva_'s knights coming alive. "Shinn, Stella, and Emily will head southeast and go for the southern flank of the port. Sting, Auel, and Rau will take the northern flank. Hasid's men will hit them in the center, and Athrun and Viveka get the ever-uplifting task of freeing the prisoners in an abandoned rail yard just west of the port." She glanced at Meyrin, who only nodded. "And the word is given. Let's have some fun, boys and girls!"

Shinn's grim face appeared on the monitor next. "Emily, they deployed a squadron of Euclid mobile armors," he explained. "Leave them to me, and don't provoke them. They only engage enemies that their commanders deem particularly dangerous."

"Well let's _get_ dangerous!" added Auel with a grin. "Auel Neider, Abyss, going out!"

The Abyss took off with a roar, and Emily glanced out the open catapult. The sky was dark with thick gray clouds— indeed, she could already see where the rain was beginning to fall. "I'll be okay," she said quietly. "But I hope the city is as abandoned as they say..."

"I guess we're going to find out," Shinn agreed, as the Destiny fell into place on the catapult. "Shinn Asuka, Destiny, launching!"

—

**Novorossiysk, Russia**

The command cabin of the Gelzuge mobile armor had been billed as having room for ten, plus a commander, turning the mobile armor into a well-protected command post. But clearly, the missing qualifier was "much," as Richard Yeager squeezed himself into the commander's seat and watched the hatch close. The cabin was bathed in eerie red light as the Gelzuge slowly came online, and the trio of display screens around Yeager's station flickered to life.

"Recon is reporting movement around the _Minerva_, general," someone reported.

"I see they're not wasting their time," Yeager chuckled, as the Gelzuge tramped forward, hefting its rifles. "Position of the _Charlemagne?_"

"It won't be in position for approximately thirty minutes," another soldier answered.

Yeager sat back, getting as comfortable as possible. "Order the forward to battalions to move in and launch a preemptive attack. We'll reinforce with the secondary units as needed."

"But sir, the _Minerva_ is launching mobile suits," a voice answered. "The Destiny— "

"Deploy the Euclid team in Myrmidon Formation," Yeager cut him off. "A Gundam is just a mobile suit with a fancy head!" He threw a switch on his chair's armrest, bringing up an image of a mustachioed man in a brown Earth Alliance Air Force uniform. "Captain Carter, get the _Vienna_ airborne and attack the _Minerva_. We'll keep them off balance."

"Yes sir," the officer answered, before the screen went dark.

The cabin fell silent as the Gelzuge lumbered forward.

—

"Euclid!"

Emily felt fire race through her veins as the call went out, and the Destiny, Twilight, and Gaia broke formation to dodge a blaze of beam blasts, and from the sky a gray Euclid mobile armor came streaking into the battle. It released a horde of missiles, fanning out across the sky.

"Emily, get down into the street!" Shinn snapped, as the Destiny dove down into the forest of buildings, with the Gaia beside it. The Euclid wheeled around as Emily hit the pavement, and she dove aside as it came around for another pass. "I'll distract it! Emily, Stella, get in close and cut through the reflector!"

The Destiny took off with a flash, activating its beam wings and somersaulting over the Euclid's next shots. It arced after the Gundam, beam cannons blazing— Emily steeled herself and took off next to the Gaia, drawing her beam saber.

"Come on!" Stella snapped, lunging up and bringing her own saber down with a scream. The Euclid jetted forward, barely avoiding her attack, and shoved the Gaia back with a burst of exhaust from its engines. Emily saw her chance, sending the Twilight streaking forward under the Euclid's hull and drawing back her saber—

An instant later, the Euclid whirled around, ramming her with the side of its hull. The Twilight rattled as it went staggering out of the sky, and the mobile armor leveled off its beam cannons for a killing blow— only to lurch to the side as an off-white blur ripped across its hull, tearing a long black gash along the surface.

"Emily, move it!" Shinn snapped, as he caught his boomerang on the rebound, charging with sword drawn. "You're gonna regret that!"

The Euclid jetted aside, ducking out of the way of Shinn's killing sword slash, but the Destiny took off before the Euclid could open fire— and an instant later, the Gaia was upon it with beam saber raised high, swiping down and catching the Euclid's right side, putting another gash in the armor. The Destiny came back down with another sword stroke, lopping off one of the Euclid's fins, and taking off again before it could retaliate.

Instinct screamed as Emily plunged her Gundam forward, drawing back its saber and charging into the air, where the Euclid desperately turned its guns towards the charging Twilight. She ducked aside as it opened fire, diving into close quarters and tearing a smoking scar up the Euclid's nose, before taking off again—

"_Gotcha!_" Shinn roared, coming down with a triumphant crash and skewering the Euclid on his anti-ship sword. The broken mobile armor belched fire, and Shinn yanked his sword free and took off as it collapsed towards the street and exploded.

The Destiny landed with a crash in the street, glancing over at the Twilight and Gaia as they came down as well. "They're gonna have to do better than that if they want to stop us!" He turned his attention down the street as a Windam team leapt out from the cover of skyscrapers, opening fire. The three Gundams took cover behind their shields, until Shinn charged, brandishing his sword with a scream and cleaving the leading Windam in two with a shriek. The Gaia leveled off its rifle, picking off a second Windam, while Shinn crushed the third with a lightning-fast palm cannon blow— and Emily seized her chance to blow apart the fourth Windam as it backpedaled in the face of the unstoppable Destiny.

"Shinn!" Stella cried out, as the Gaia pointed into the air with its shield. "Look!"

The sky split in two as another Euclid descended from the heavens, beam cannons blazing. The Destiny somersaulted into the air.

"I'll take care of it! " Shinn answered. "You two go on without me!"

Emily plucked up her courage and followed Stella as she plunged down the street.

—

The bisected remains of a fallen Windam crashed into the street and exploded, and from the smoke emerged the Infinite Justice Gundam, beam blade alive and pointed at the remaining Windams. They opened fire, pounding shots against the Justice's beam shield— but an instant later, a wave of beam shots from the heavens took down two of their numbers and sent the rest scurrying for safety, and from the sky the Savior Gundam landed with a rumble.

"They're pulling back," Athrun observed as the Justice moved forward, rifle in hand. He raised the Justice's left hand into the air, firing a flare up into the sky and bathing the city in blue light. "All units, advance!"

Two dozen mobile suits of all types emerged from hiding places around the street and charged forward, weapons in hand, with the Justice and Savior at the lead. A squad of Windams emerged up ahead to stop them— a wave of beam shots and machinegun fire shredded them before they could attack. Athrun stormed forward, blade shining to life, and slammed it through the cockpit of another Windam as it leveled off its rifle, before ducking and spearing a second Windam through the chest with a beam rifle shot.

"Athrun, their defense is too dense here! We'll take all day to break through!" Viveka shouted, pausing only to return the fire of the remaining Windams.

"All units, spread out and advance in!" Athrun ordered. "We'll thin out their lines and create a weak point of our own!" The Justice charged forward, plowing through another salvo of beam shots and ramming down a third Windam—

The familiar feeling of danger returned, and Athrun slammed on the brakes just as a pair of thundering explosions tore through the foundations of two buildings up ahead, and brought them down over the street with a bone-jarring crash. Athrun backed away behind his beam shield as the Savior came down behind him.

"Well," he grunted, "this is different."

"They don't have _all_ these buildings booby-trapped, do they?" Viveka asked, scanning the street. A squad of Windams leapt up over the toppled buildings, beam rifles ready— Athrun threw his beam shield up to deflect their shots, letting Viveka vault into the air and force the attackers back on the defensive with a volley of plasma cannon shots.

"We may have to go the long way around," Athrun said with a heavy sigh, as the Savior returned to earth with a crash. "All units, continue spreading the line of attack out! We're bound to break their defense somewhere!"

—

"Don't these fuckers think of overkill?" snapped Auel Neider as his Abyss Gundam staggered back under a hail of debris as another building came tumbling down before him. "Goddammit! Phase Shift can't stand up to _that_ much pressure!"

The Legend Gundam came down with a crash, toting a bazooka in one hand and its beam rifle in the other. "The Alliance is trying to force us into Novorossiysk's main thoroughfares, which are more open and provide us with less cover," Rau observed dourly, even as a line of Doppelhorn Windams down the street opened up with a withering barrage. "Unless we want to expose ourselves climbing over toppled buildings."

The Chaos Gundam lunged up to squeeze off a volley of beam shots at the enemies down the street, before plunging back behind the cover of the wrecked tower, shuddering as the Windams' shells rained down on their position. "Well, at least we would be making progress that way!" Sting shot back. "We're not getting _anywhere_ like this!"

"They can't have rigged _every_ building in the city," Auel added.

"On the contrary," Rau said, with a smile playing at his lips, "let's assume that every building _is_ rigged."

The Legend vaulted into the air, firing a punishing beam cannon fusillade that plowed through the buildings on either side of the attacking Windam team. Both buildings erupted into two towering plumes of fire, bringing down a rain of concrete and steel that crushed the Windams before they could retreat.

"They are not the only ones who can use the environment against their enemies," Rau finished, as the Legend landed in the street. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends!"

Auel sneered as the Legend took off down the street. "I hate it when he shows off how smart he is."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

The main screen was alive with the daunting image of an Alliance _Siegfried_-class carrier plane rising into the air, guns ready, spoiling for a fight. Meyrin steeled herself in the captain's chair— the inexorable dance between two dubiously-airworthy vessels trying to knock each other out of the sky was always the most stressful part of the captaincy.

"Enemy carrier plane's heat signatures are rising," Burt reported from the sensor station. "It looks like it's charging its beam cannons."

"Malik, I'll leave the evasive maneuvers to you," Meyrin said grimly as the _Minerva_ swung into action. "Chen, you're going to have to make our shots count. There's no sense in causing more damage to the city than there already is."

"We won't have much room to maneuver unless we move the battle out to sea," Malik warned.

"Missiles, incoming!" Burt interrupted. Meyrin clenched her teeth— no time to second-guess now.

"CIWS, intercept! Malik, combat speed; Chen, target the Tristans and fire on my mark!"

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Krasnodar Krai, Russia**

"Yeager has stirred up one hell of a hornet's nest," grunted a irritated Danilov as he studied the tactical map. "No worthwhile commander would take on a force like this without at least a division's strength."

"He's managed to hold them back for two weeks," Vera offered, arms crossed as she stood by the captain's chair.

"And they've only taken half the city," Danilov answered. "And now they're up against the _Minerva_. General Yeager's hubris is going to get the best of him." He paused, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "However, that's no reason not to seize the opportunity before us. Helm, status report."

"ETA to staging position is approximately twelve minutes, sir," the helmsman answered. Danilov sat back, studying the specter of the city before him.

"Tell Captain Bayan to get his team moving," he said at last. "It's time for the _Charlemagne_ to make its presence known."

—

The sky was alive with the blurry phantoms of the Destiny Gundam as it spiraled elegantly around the Euclid's furious beam fire. The hulking mobile armor corkscrewed down towards the legendary Gundam, relentlessly pounding its beam shields— inside the Destiny, Shinn flashed a feral grin.

"You've certainly got guts!" he cried, brandishing his titanic anti-ship sword and charging. The Euclid tried to pull up— an instant too late, as Shinn rammed his sword into the Euclid's right-hand beam cannon, ripping it clear off the Euclid's hull and sending the Euclid staggering back with smoke pouring from its wound. "But guts alone won't let you win!"

The Euclid whirled around even as it threw sparks and fired again; the Destiny took off, letting its afterimages take the blow as the Destiny itself danced effortlessly around the shots, the momentum of its sword carrying it out of harm's way.

"You're afraid...!" Shinn snarled, even as he sent a beam boomerang slicing through the air to saw off one of the Euclid's fins. The battered mobile armor charged, its remaining beam cannon blazing furiously.

The Destiny lunged aside and caught its boomerang on the rebound, as the Euclid rocketed by and painfully wheeled around for another pass. Shinn charged back at it, sword in hand, and brought it down with a crash through the Euclid's remaining beam cannon, slashing the barrel in two and rendering the cannon worthless. The Euclid instead turned in a desperate attempt to ram the Destiny bodily.

"_That won't work!_" Shinn cried; the Destiny somersaulted over the Euclid's smoldering prow, and with a scream, Shinn plunged his sword down into the Euclid's center.

Another death. Shinn frowned— that was what had to be. He pulled his sword free from the ruined mobile armor and backed away, watching it explode.

Shinn glanced up at the rest of the battlefield, switching back to his beam rifle. Emily was still out there.

—

"They aren't taking any chances with us, are they?" Viveka sighed as she spotted a new Euclid unit sailing into battle over the demolished city.

Athrun narrowed his eyes at the target. "All units, leave the mobile armor to us," he said. "Continue advancing towards the compound." He glanced over at the Savior, as it reverted to mobile suit mode and hefted its beam rifle. "This shouldn't be as difficult as the Zamzazar was in Murmansk."

"You act like I haven't improved since then," Viveka shot back with a grin. "Let's go!"

The Infinite Justice and Savior rocketed forward, spiraling around the Euclid's opening salvo and firing back with their beam rifles. The hulking mobile armor slammed on its brakes, releasing a cloud of missiles that lanced through the sky towards the two Gundams. Athrun cut them from the sky with a CIWS burst, as the Savior ducked underneath the explosions and pummeled the Euclid's positron reflector with plasma cannon blasts.

"Viveka, Attack Pattern Tau! We'll cut him in two!" Athrun called, plunging through the smoke and firing back at the charging Euclid. The mobile armor kept going, firing back and slamming a salvo of its own against the Justice's beam shield. "That's not gonna stop me...!"

The Euclid kept charging forward, driving the Justice back with a beam cannon barrage. Athrun somersaulted over the blasts and backpedaled behind his shield, stashing his beam rifle in favor of a twin beam saber. The Euclid rushed forward, beam cannons blazing—

"In position!" shouted Viveka. "Let's do it!"

Athrun clenched his teeth, charging forward and detaching the Fatum-01. The Euclid struggled to pull up, but too late as the Fatum's beam blades flashed to life and ripped the Euclid's left-hand cannon off its hull. A moment later, the stricken mobile armor shuddered again, as the Savior rocketed past and tore free its right-hand cannon with a beam saber. And with a scream from its pilot, Athrun's Gundam roared up over the wounded mobile armor and brought its saber down through the center of the smoking machine with a crash.

The Fatum returned with a crash, and the Justice leapt clear of the mobile armor as it finally exploded.

"Man, that move never gets old," Viveka chuckled.

Athrun glanced up ahead, where he could see the flat gray barracks of the prison camp— and where he could see evil rising up like a cloud of steam. "All units, continue advance! We have prisoners to rescue!"

—

"It says much about you that you believe these units can stop the best pilots in the Earth Sphere, Lord Djibril!" Rau cackled as he traded fire with a massive Euclid unit, diving through the air to avoid its blasts. "Sting, Auel, Attack Pattern Zeta!"

"Ooh, I love that one!" Auel laughed, even as the Abyss deflected a beam cannon volley with its shoulder shells. "Sting! You'd better not fuck this one up!"

"Oh, blow me," Sting grunted, as the Chaos swung into position. "Let's see how you take this! Gunbarrels, _go!_"

The Chaos Gundam's gunbarrels lifted off with a flash, darting into battle and immediately pounding the Euclid with missiles. The staggering mobile armor sank down beneath the smoke and fired back, only to find nothing there— and a moment later, the Legend and Abyss lined up on other side of the colossal machine to smash both sides of its reflector with a crushing barrage of beam fire. The Euclid rushed forward to escape the volley— and with a crunch of torn metal, fell right into the Chaos's hands as it slammed its beam claws through the machine's beam cannons.

"_Gotcha!_" Sting roared, raising his saber triumphantly and bringing it down with a crash through the Euclid's cockpit. As the mobile armor began to die, the Chaos leapt off its butchered foe, its gunbarrels returning as the Gundam whirled around to watch its enemy's death throes.

"I see I taught Athrun well when it comes to mobile suit team strategy," Rau chuckled.

"Yeah, like it was all you," Auel sneered.

The Chaos glanced over its shoulder at an approaching squad of Jet Windams. "We have better things to worry about, guys. Let's go!"

—

Emily squeezed her eyes shut as the Twilight Gundam took cover behind a collapsed skyscraper, lights flashing and filling the cockpit. A line of Doppelhorn Windams, supported by less heavily-armed comrades down the street, was pummeling the Twilight and Gaia with a relentless artillery barrage. They would have to run out of ammo at some point, but that point did not appear to be rapidly approaching.

"We're never gonna get anywhere like this," Emily groaned, pausing as a wayward shell blew off a chunk of the fallen building she was taking cover behind. She glanced over at the Gaia as it hefted its beam rifle. "What should we do, Stella?"

"Stella will deal with them," the blonde Extended answered suddenly. "Will Emily be okay?"

Emily glanced anxiously back at the Windams, as they began to advance, beam rifles at the ready. "I guess..."

Stella smiled reassuringly, as the Gaia took off down the street, towards the charred stump of another building. Emily glanced back at the Windams, wondering how to attack them— only to have her question answered as the Windams opened fire with their beam rifles, blasting apart the barricade.

"I hope all that training pays off!" Emily cried, lunging out of cover and squeezing off a handful of return shots. One of the Windams was struck in the cockpit and exploded with a blaze that knocked its comrades aside; Emily seized her chance to roar up into the air and shower the Windams with beam fire. The Doppelhorn Windams leveled off their cannons, filling the sky with artillery shells and throwing the Twilight back with a cloud of smoke—

An instant later, a pulsing green beam blast came streaking out of the sky, blowing one of the Doppelhorn Windams away. Emily shot a glance over her shoulder—

"Stella!"

Atop a ruined building down the street, the Gaia Gundam adjusted its aim, and Stella narrowed her eyes from behind the Gaia's sniper scope.

"Don't worry, Emily," she answered. The Gaia fired again, even as the Doppelhorn Windams opened fire.

"Oh no you don't!" Emily screamed, plunging down with a volley of beam blasts that destroyed another Doppelhorn Windam. A second beam blast from the Gaia picked off another Windam, while Emily plowed into their ranks and blew apart two more with another volley of beam rifle blasts.

One of the Windams whirled in around the Twilight, beam saber raised. Emily glanced sharply at it—

"I see you too!" she cried, drawing a saber with her left hand and driving it through the Windam's cockpit. Adrenaline mixed with the familiar feeling of death as she wheeled around to face the rest of the Windams, even as another blast from the Gaia speared another Windam through the cockpit.

The last two Windams backpedaled away, Doppelhorn Strikers blazing. A fourth shot from the Gaia picked off one of them, while Emily charged at the last behind her beam shield, squinting through the smoke and fire—

Instinct screamed within her, and she threw the Twilight to the ground to dodge a furious horizontal beam saber swipe...and with a crash, she lunged up and impaled the Windam on her own saber.

As the final opponent exploded, Emily glanced over at the Gaia as it landed with a crash.

"Is Emily okay...?" Stella asked.

The Twilight stashed its beam saber and turned down the street. "I'll be fine, Stella," Emily answered.

—

As a squadron of Jet Windams, armed to the teeth with missiles, came streaking towards him, Shinn Asuka was aware of a single emotion permeating the charging dozen of machines: fear. It was odd to feel so much fear from so many enemies charging towards a single target. Then again, Shinn had felt this for three years, and yet they still followed that suicidal order.

"If you guys are so afraid of me, then you shouldn't be fighting," he said, watching time slow as the Windams opened fire. "_Because I'm not showing any mercy!_'

The Destiny's beam wings blazed to life, and the mighty Gundam sent an army of afterimages flashing forward as it dodged the Windams' attacks. The squadron of attackers broke formation, moving out to flank the afterimage-spewing Gundam.

"That's not gonna work!" Shinn snapped, whipping his rifle up to cut down one of the Windams and dodging the attacks of the rest. A second Windam moved in behind the Destiny— Shinn whirled around to slice it in two with his beam wings, and then fired up above to drill another blast through a third Windam. The remaining machines backed away and opened fire with their missiles. Shinn pulled back as the warheads came streaking in, throwing his solid shield out in front of him, and the sky lit up with explosions as the missiles smashed into the shield.

The Windams waited with bated breath as the smoke flashed up in front of them— and an instant later, a barrage of beam blasts came tearing out of the cloud, wrenching three of the Windams out of the sky before the rest could take off and evade. The smoke parted to reveal the Destiny Gundam, beam rifle raised and missing its shield, but otherwise unharmed and waiting.

"Making me sacrifice my shield..." Shinn growled, as the Windams moved in to resume the attack. "On the other hand, now your ranks are thinner!"

The Windams opened fire again— with a flurry of afterimages, the Destiny backflipped over the shots and charged, crushing a seventh Windam's cockpit with a palm cannon blast before it could react. Even as the Windam exploded, the Destiny whirled around amidst the smoke to spear an eighth Windam on another beam rifle shot, and took off as the Windams belatedly returned fire.

A desperate ninth Windam came charging in from behind, beam saber drawn for a killing stab. Shinn smirked as the familiar white bolt flashed before his eyes, and he whirled around to seize the Windam's arm, turning and using the Windam as a bludgeon against another saber-wielding Windam. As both mobile suits staggered, the Destiny effortlessly put them both down with a single shot, and then ducked beneath another Windam's beam saber swipe, hurling a beam boomerang through its waist. The boomerang arced down towards the final Windam, but it managed to dodge the blade at the cost of its rifle, and went charging up towards the Destiny, saber in hand.

Shinn only watched as the boomerang came whirling around again and tore the Windam in two, and as his bisected foe exploded, caught the boomerang and returned it effortlessly to its rack.

"Really, this is getting tiring," he said with a sigh. The Destiny glanced back towards the battlefield and took off.

—

"Sting, Auel," Rau's voice came through the comm. "I'm breaking off. I am needed elsewhere."

"Where is 'elsewhere?'" Sting asked, grunting as a Windam's beam rifle shot landed against his shield. The Abyss landed in front of the Chaos to shower the enemies down the street with beam fire.

"Emily is going to be needing assistance shortly," Rau answered. "I trust the attack will be left in good hands." The line went out as the Legend peeled off.

"I hate it when he does that," Sting muttered, throwing the Chaos aside and squeezing off a beam shot that drilled through a Windam down the street. "Auel, it's just you and me! Let's try Attack Pattern Nu!"

"Oh yeah, the kamikaze one! I like that one!" Auel shouted, as the Abyss Gundam backflipped over a volley of beam shots and landed with a crash in the street. "In position! Let's kick some ass!"

The Abyss unleashed a storm of beam fire from its shoulder shells to pummel the Windams down the street and force them back behind their shields. The Chaos took off and skimmed along the street and under the Abyss's fire, plowing through the Windam formation and tearing two of them in half with its beam claws. Sting whipped around with his beam rifle ready, opening fire on the Windams as they tried to split their attention. The Abyss intensified its fire, and within moments, the Windam team was reduced to a smoldering field of wreckage.

"And you were always bitching about how Meyrin and Athrun kept coming up with attack patterns," Sting said with a smirk.

"Well, fuck you," Auel shot back. The two Gundams took off down the street.

—

Another Doppelhorn Windam fell in the street, gutted by the Gaia Gundam's beam saber. As it exploded, Stella turned and deflected another wave of beam shots with her shield— just in time for the Twilight to level off its long-range cannon and blow away one of the charging Jet Windams. The other broke off, only to be speared by a blast from the Twilight's beam rifle.

Emily glanced nervously around the city as Stella searched for more targets. There was fear everywhere, but that was coming from the Alliance troops, helpless as they struggled to stop the unstoppable and battle the Gundams. And there was hatred...but that was coming from the Resistance soldiers.

"Is Emily alright?" Stella asked suddenly. Emily blinked in surprise, as the feelings swirled around her. She glanced down at her map, finding the Resistance units closing in— but such hatred...

"I-I'll be fine," she started.

A squad of Jet Windams came streaking out of the heavens, beam rifles blazing. Emily swung up her beam shield to defend the two Gundams, as the Gaia fired back with its own rifle and picked one of the Windams out of the sky. Emily clenched her teeth as the Twilight took off and fired back with its own rifle, forcing the Windams on the defensive. One of the Windams swept in behind her, beam rifle raised— Emily whirled around to face it—

The world began to sway around her as the feeling of hatred washed over her again, chilling her bones and stopping her hand. The Windam was speared by another shot from the Gaia, and the Twilight went reeling from the blast and came down with a crash.

"Emily! What's wrong?" Stella exclaimed. An instant later she was stopped as the remaining two Windams came sweeping in with a beam volley. Stella lunged up into the air and sawed one of the Windams in two at the waist with her beam saber, but the other whirled around for a killing blow— and another beam to knock it out of the sky with a blast of fire.

The Legend Gundam landed with a crash next to the Twilight. Emily looked blearily up at it, barely registering the cold gray metal and piercing green eyes as the haze of emotion clouded her view.

"W-What's going on...?" she asked weakly, as the Legend pulled the Twilight to its feet. "This hatred..."

"Rau! What happened to Emily?" Stella cried.

"This feeling is easy to recognize," Rau murmured. "There is hatred, but it's not directed at only the Alliance."

He paused and unleashed a barrage of beams down the street to force a charging Windam team to take cover, picking off two of their numbers. The Gaia backpedaled behind its shield, finishing off the other two.

"I-I don't understand this," Emily moaned, holding her head in her hands. "This feeling..."

Rau paused and glanced at his map, watching as the Infinite Justice and Savior approached the prison camp. The hatred was strong all over the city, but there it was strongest, and from the soldiers following Athrun and Viveka...

He glanced up towards the camp. _I suppose this is where our little Newtype begins to shine..._

—

"There it is!" Viveka shouted as the Savior soared overhead in mobile armor mode. "Athrun, I've got a visual of the camp!"

"Good! All units, double-time! Viveka, clear us a path!"

In the Savior, Viveka could not help but grin as the Savior swept down amid a flurry of antiaircraft fire. "Roger that! Savior, commencing bombardment!"

The Savior stormed into battle over the street, streaking past missiles and tracer rounds and slamming a teeming payload of explosives into the lines of Windams guarding the road up into the prison camp. As even the armored vehicles guarding the camp opened fire, she pulled up over the camp and transformed back to mobile suit mode to shower the mobile suits below with beam fire. An instant later, Athrun's Infinite Justice came crashing through the Windams' lines, tearing apart two of them with a concentrated beam volley, followed closely by a motley column of Resistance mobile suits.

"Secure the compound! Andrei, move your team in to start freeing the prisoners!" Athrun ordered, not pausing even as the Infinite Justice sawed a Windam in two with its beam boomerang.

He glanced to the side and watched as Alliance soldiers fled the battlefield on foot, and magnified the image. A handful of wounded men in bloody black uniforms were staggering past a huge earthen pit, filled with corpses.

Athrun narrowed his eyes, checking the impulse to open fire. To kill those injured men would be to act like a soldier of the Phantom Pain, and once he started acting like his foes, he would have forgotten what defeating his foes meant.

"Sergei and Katerina have the perimeter secure," Viveka put in, as the Savior landed next to the Justice. "You okay in there?"

Athrun gestured to the mass grave, and Viveka could only gasp. "I don't know whether to say we made it in time or not," he said, "but it looks like we'll have more work to do."

And, he thought bitterly as he turned towards the rest of the city, there was still that terrible feeling of hatred...

"Andrei," Athrun said suddenly, "I'm leaving you in command here. Get the prisoners safely out of the city by Red Route."

"Yes sir," answered the man on the other end. Athrun glanced over at Viveka.

"I have a feeling that Emily needs help," he said. "Let's go."

—

"My oh my, what a mess," sighed Shams Coza as the Verde Buster sailed into battle with the Strike Noir and Blu Duel. "We'll be lucky to just find the _Minerva_'s units in all this."

Sven narrowed his eyes at the grim tableau before him— Resistance troops advancing north from all directions and on all fronts, and reports indicated that a crucial prison compound had already fallen. Yeager's men were clearly on the retreat.

"Ensign Saiba, Ensign Seraux," he said, glancing over at the Slaughter Windam and IWSP Windam on his flank. "I trust you have marked your target already?"

"We'll take on the Twilight, sir," answered Grey.

Sven returned his sights to the battlefield. "Very well. Commence operation!"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

Meyrin gripped the armrests of the captain's chair until her knuckles were white as the ship quaked under a barrage of missiles, barely stopped by the _Minerva_'s CIWS emplacements. She looked up through the smoke, finding the _Vienna_ triumphantly above her.

_ That won't stop us,_ she grunted mentally. "Isolde, target the _Siegfried_ and fire!"

The _Minerva_'s Isolde angled its barrels up and roared in response, and the _Vienna_ dodged with only inches to spare. The _Minerva_ plowed through the smoke—

A towering skyscraper stood directly in the ship's path. The crew yelped in surprise, just before Malik yanked the ship hard to starboard, pulling up just in time.

"Dammit, this environment is too difficult to fight in!" Abbey shouted. "We have to move the battle out to sea!"

"Enemy is firing!" Burt cried, as the _Vienna_ opened fire with its Gottfrieds.

"Malik, evade!"

The _Minerva_ tilted aside again and fired back with its Tristans, and Meyrin watched in disappointment as the _Vienna_ again managed to dodge certain death.

"Captain, what about the Tannhäuser?" Chen asked.

"The radiation would ruin Novorossiysk," Meyrin answered, "and they're going to have enough problems once we're done here."

The auxiliary screen came to life, showing Hasid's grim bearded face. "Captain, we have a problem," he said.

"We have lots of problems," Meyrin grunted, as her ship rocked again. "What is it?"

"My men have taken the prison compound, and your two Gundams have left the area to assist comrades," Hasid said, "but since then, something terrible has happened...and my men..."

"What?" Meyrin asked, as that sinking feeling in her heart began to materialize.

"My men are killing each other, captain."

—

To be continued...


	26. Phase 26: Blood for Blood

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 26 - Blood for Blood

—

**March 13th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, Russia**

"_Killing_ each other?"

Meyrin felt her heart plunge as the words set in. It was the ever-present nightmare that floated in the back of the mind of any Resistance commander who cared about the greater cause— that the soldiers comprising the force on the battlefield would break down, their own centuries-old divisions coming to the fore, and their guns would turn on each other. Too many operations had failed because the soldiers on the ground could not work with soldiers of another party, another tribe, another sect...

"Is it just the soldiers at the camp?" Meyrin asked— perhaps this could be contained.

"My command is in tatters, captain," Hasid protested. "I've lost contact with a number of units that I can visually confirm have not been destroyed. I fear the fighting is spreading. I can't say how the force is breaking down if I don't have communications with my officers."

The strategist in Meyrin struggled to the surface, as she tried to decide whether to focus on repairing the current situation or the overall battle. Without Novorossiysk, the Resistance forces in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor would be forced to find a different route to Carpentaria— but a significant chunk of those forces were fighting each other now. And experience dictated that once opposing groups within the Resistance turned their guns on each other, it was next to impossible to bring them back together.

"There has to be something we can salvage from this," Meyrin said, praying that her voice sounded more confident than she felt. "What about the prisoners?"

Hasid's face darkened. "One of the soldiers still loyal to me reported that..." He took a moment to compose himself. "He reported that some of the dissenters are executing some of the prisoners."

Meyrin felt her blood run cold. "_What?_"

"They're executing the prisoners?" Abbey cried. "The prisoners are half of the reason we _came here!_ Captain— "

_ Those bastards!_ Meyrin thought, eyes flashing venomously. "Hasid, gather up what men are still on your side and get into that camp. Most of those prisoners probably have nothing to do with the Resistance or Coordinators, and I'll not see them killed because of some ancient blood feud. Get them out of here. We'll focus on the Alliance forces and do what we can."

"Very well, captain," Hasid agreed. "And I apologize— "

"Don't," Meyrin cut him off. "Just get moving."

The screen went dark, and Meyrin cast a furious glance towards the prison camp below as she returned her attention to the _Vienna_.

_ Murdering prisoners...just who are we fighting for?_

—

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Viveka groaned, as the Savior and Infinite Justice went sailing back towards the prison camp. "They've got the guns of the Alliance up their nostrils and they still can't look past these ancient pissing contests?"

Athrun clenched his teeth furiously. "Andrei, come in; this is Commander Zala. Repeat, Andrei, come in— "

A burst of static was the only response. Athrun scowled and boosted forward, where he could already see puffs of smoke and flashes of fire around the camp, and he could feel the hatred pulsing and writhing.

"The least we can do is try to convey some of the prisoners to safety," Athrun continued, "but there's no telling who's on whose side...and I have no idea how two mobile suits will carry dozens of people through a war zone."

"That was what we had the choppers and APCs for," Viveka agreed. "And God only knows what those choppers and APCs are doing now."

"The camp is coming up," Athrun said. "I guess we should aim to disable?"

Viveka's sole eye flashed in anger. "No way. They're killing unarmed civilians. That's what the Phantom Pain does. They should know better." Athrun saw in her eye a glimmer of past experience that fed the anger. "And if they're going to do that, then I'm afraid I can't find any mercy in me today."

Athrun turned that thought over in his mind, and cracked a smile. "Understood."

—

The Twilight rumbled as a barrage of shells came down around it, and inside the cockpit, Emily stared in disbelief at the report on her screen.

"They're attacking each other? Why?" She wracked her brain for an explanation— this was not the first time Resistance troops had found in each other a more pressing enemy than the Alliance, but each time it happened she could never understand the reason why.

Reality returned itself to the fore as the Twilight rocked under another artillery barrage. Emily looked up in surprise and found a pair of black Windams soaring into battle. An IWSP Windam and a Slaughter Windam charged with a beam rifle barrage— Emily deflected their shots with her beam shield and took off down the street.

"Is it those two again...?" she murmured, her mind flashing back to the young Phantom Pain soldier in Volgograd.

The IWSP Windam lined up for a killing blow and hurled its beam boomerang down at the Twilight. Emily whirled around to block the boomerang with her shield, only to be sent stumbling down into the street from the force of the blow— and an instant later, the Slaughter Windam was upon her with a shower of beam rifle shots.

"I'm not that easy!" Emily shot back, gunning the booster and taking off before the Windam could finish her off. The Twilight darted up the street, firing back with its own rifle. The Slaughter Windam took cover behind its shield, letting the IWSP Windam lunge up behind it and shower the Twilight with cannon fire. "You two are always coming after me!"

Emily slammed on the brakes as her opportunity presented itself, roaring up into the Slaughter Windam's face with its left-hand palm cannon at the ready—

And an instant later, the Slaughter Windam ducked beneath the blow, just in time for the IWSP Windam to bring one of its swords down with a crash and shatter the Twilight's solid shield.

"My shield— !" The Twilight shuddered as the Slaughter Windam kicked it in the back, and Emily jammed the controls forward to duck beneath the IWSP Windam's finishing sword swipe. "You're not the only one who can use a sword!"

The IWSP Windam whirled around, bringing its Gatling gun to bear— only to watch the Twilight slash the Gatling barrel in two with a beam saber. The Slaughter Windam somersaulted over the IWSP Windam as it pulled back, drawing a beam saber and swinging it down with a crash.

Inside the Twilight, Emily ground her teeth as the two mobile suits locked glares. "I don't have time for you two..."

—

The chatter inside the Gelzuge's command cabin was drowned out by the hysterical laughter of General Yeager as his hulking mobile armor stomped forward, beam rifles in hand and watching the battle impassively.

"What a turn of events!" Yeager cackled. "The Resistance force fell apart! Our spies had said this was a possibility, but to think it would actually happen...!"

"All units advancing in all sectors, sir," one of the soldiers reported. "Two Gundams are approaching the prison compound."

"Let them have it," laughed Yeager with a dismissive wave of his hand. "If I 'd known that the Resistance would purge the rabble for me, I would've let them do it long ago. Status of our Euclid squadron?"

"We've lost four units, sir," another soldier answered. "Three Euclid units are still active."

"Pull two of them back to support the _Vienna_," Yeager ordered. "We have the _Minerva_ on its heels, and its allies are in shock. Contact the _Charlemagne— _the time is ripe for a counterattack!"

—

"It wouldn't be a battle without you three showing up, would it?" snapped Shinn Asuka as the Destiny spiraled into battle, drawing its anti-ship sword with a flash and looking over its three new foes. The Strike Noir came charging into battle, its own beam swords drawn, with the Verde Buster and Blu Duel on its flanks.

Inside the Strike Noir, Sven narrowed his eyes at the Gundam with the wings of light. Their well-worn plan of attack against the Destiny had produced no results in the past, so it was time to try a new tactic—

"Formation Sierra!"

The Blu Duel and Verde Buster peeled off, guns rising to life and opening fire on the Destiny. Shinn ducked around their shots and backed away, only to throw his sword up in surprise as the Strike Noir charged straight at him, bringing its blades crashing down.

"He went straight through his wingmen's fire?" Shinn growled. "Is he nuts?"

The Noir surged forward, hurling the Destiny away and backing up to allow the Blu Duel and Verde Buster to open fire again. With practiced ease, Shinn dodged their attacks— and whirled around as the Strike Noir slid in behind him, swords upraised, to block the Noir's killing blow.

Sven narrowed his eyes at his shimmering foe. "Shams, Mudie, Formation Foxtrot!"

"I don't think so!" Shinn shouted, backing away as the Noir took another furious swing. An instant later, the Destiny rocked as the Verde Buster pounded it with a volley of railgun shells. And the smoke tore apart as the Noir charged, forcing Shinn to deploy his beam shield to stop the blow.

The Destiny quaked again as the Blu Duel slid in behind it and hurled a trio of Stilettos into its exposed back, knocking it forward. Shinn snapped his attention up above, as the Verde Buster launched a volley of missiles— with practiced ease, he redirected them towards the Blu Duel, only to find the Noir upon him again in that instant, slamming its blades down against his sword and throwing him back.

"Dammit, they're good...!" Shinn grunted.

In the Noir, as Shams and Mudie bombarded the Destiny with beams and railgun shells, Sven narrowed his eyes. "This machine may be more than man, but the pilot is not...and neither are immortal!"

—

"Why does shit like this _always have to happen?_" Auel screamed, as he put the blade of his lance through yet another Windam's cockpit and whirled around it as it exploded. "Can't people get over these stupid blood feuds? They're hundreds of years old!"

"That's all some of these people have," pointed out Sting, even as the Chaos gutted a Doppelhorn Windam with its beam saber and wheeled around to deflect more beam rifle fire with its shield and switch back to its own rifle. "But still, executing the prisoners too..."

"And I bet most of 'em were just picked up on 'suspicion of association!'" Auel added, stopping only as the Abyss ducked beneath a Windam squad's beam rifle barrage and answered it in spades with a volley of cannon shots. "You can pick up _anyone_ with a charge like that! Fuck, this was going pretty well until they went all medieval on each other!"

The screen crackled to life as the two Gundams took cover from another rain of artillery. "Auel, Sting, where are you two?" Roxy's voice asked urgently.

Sting consulted the map as the world around him shook. "We're about a kilometer and a half south of the harbor," he said. "Why?"

"Captain's orders. You two have to pull back and support the ship. We're clearing a path out of this godforsaken city."

Sting glanced over at Auel. "Understood. Give us five minutes."

Roxy smiled. "Make it in three. _Minerva_ out."

The screen went dark, and Auel heaved a sigh. "Easy for her to say," he grumbled. "But I figured we'd be pulling out. This place has gone to shit anyway."

The Chaos and Abyss sent one last angry glance down the street, towards the advancing Windams, before taking off.

—

The Legend came down with a crash, landing hard on one knee as a team of Doppelhorn Windams down the street pummeled its position with shell fire. The Gaia staggered back behind its buckling shield and took cover behind the Legend as it deployed its beam shield.

"The Alliance forces are seizing the opportunity to counterattack," Rau grunted. "_Minerva_, this is Legend. What is the situation?"

On the _Minerva_'s bridge, Meyrin was furiously clutching the armrests of her chair. "Hasid estimates that by the time the internecine fighting broke out, his force had been reduced to seventy-five percent. Now he estimates that only thirty percent is actually engaging the Alliance."

Rau glanced back contemptuously as the Windams, as they began to stalk forward. "Certainly, this attack is lost," he agreed.

"I've ordered the Chaos and Abyss back to the ship," Meyrin continued. "Where are you?"

Rau paused as he watched the Gaia lunge forward, beam saber drawn to rip two Windams in half before they could retaliate. He snapped up his own rifle and opened fire to cover the Gaia as it pulled back behind its shield. "We are pinned down in a thoroughfare in the western city, but we will not remain so for long. Legend, out."

The Gaia somersaulted over a charging Windam, landing with a crash and stabbing with its saber backwards to impale the Windam through the cockpit. The remaining two Windams began to retreat— Rau leveled off his rifle and destroyed them both with ease.

"Stella," Rau said, "we are returning to the ship."

The Legend and Gaia turned and took off with a flash down the street. Rau narrowed his eyes as the emotions in the city swirled around him.

_ Such intensity...this is not unbearable to an experienced Newtype, but..._ He cast his eyes towards the source of Emily's flickering presence, and cracked a smile. _The stage is set for you, my lovely little doll. Now sing for us a beautiful song._

—

"All of this hatred! All of this fighting!" Emily screamed, as she brought her saber down hard on the Slaughter Windam's shield. "Why do you have to fight us here and kill so many people!" The Twilight Gundam surged forward, throwing the Windam back, and Emily lined up for a killing stab. "_They have nothing to do with this!_"

The Twilight's alarms wailed, and Emily slammed on the brakes to avoid a furious sword swipe from the IWSP Windam. It whirled around to hurl its beam boomerang down at the black Gundam— Emily batted it aside with her beam shield and charged, saber raised.

With a scream from its pilot, the Slaughter Windam rammed into the Twilight with its shield, throwing the Gundam aside. Emily turned her shaking eyes towards the new foe as it raised its own saber, and blocked its blow with a crash.

Inside the Slaughter Windam, Grey ground his teeth in fury. "That's right, you're _my_ enemy!" he snarled. "You're the one I have to fight to end this!"

"Keep her distracted!" Merau cried, as the IWSP Windam swung in behind the staggering Twilight. "_Today we'll take her down!_"

Emily snapped her attention behind her, watching the second Windam come in for a killing slash— immediately, she somersaulted into the air, over the Slaughter Windam's head.

"You're not getting away!" Merau cried— the IWSP Windam opened fire with its cannons, slamming the Twilight in the back and knocking it through a building, to the ground. In the Twilight, Emily groaned and squinted through the dust as the brought the Twilight up—

All was silent as she looked up, and found herself staring into a crater, filled with corpses.

Behind the fallen Twilight, Grey and Merau stopped as well, staring in shock at the pile of bodies. Up ahead were the outskirts of the prison camp...and so...

"Are those...are those the prisoners...?" Grey asked in disbelief.

Merau clenched her teeth, fighting a wave of nausea. "Those bodies are decomposing," she groaned. "They've been there a long time...they can't be from the massacre today." She turned her eyes towards the camp. "Yeager has been...killing them..."

Inside the Twilight, Emily clutched her shoulders and shook as the world spun, thousands of voices and feelings and the crushing cloud of death coming down upon her shoulders.

_ Stop it! We didn't do anything!_ cried a woman's voice.

_ Shut up! You're just Resistance scum, out to destroy the world we've all worked so hard to create! And the only thing for traitors is death!_

But beyond the memories that clung to the bodies and hung over the crater like a cloud, she could feel the piercing, burning hatred of the Resistance soldiers. Flashes of light caught the edge of her field of vision— she turned her quaking eyes towards the source, and her blood ran cold as she saw a group of figures, huddled before a man with a machinegun in hand. Someone spoke— the man opened fire—

"No..." Emily started.

Down below, the man turned his gun on the wounded.

"Stop..."

An ice-cold flash of memory went shooting up her spine, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she saw herself lying on a metal bed in a cold, steel-walled room filled with complicated equipment and the stony faces of men in white lab coats and military uniforms. And there were two men standing over her, one in a lab coat and the other in a crisp business suit—

_ We're investing a great deal of power in this child, Director,_ the man in the lab coat said. _Concentrating such power into one place is dangerous_.

_ Then it's your job to ensure that she cannot be turned against us,_ the man in the suit shot back.

_ That's not my point, Director,_ the man in the lab coat answered. _No matter who uses her, the problem remains. She's extremely efficient and her cognitive rate is phenomenally high, but certain intensities make her difficult to control. If we can't control such power, there's no telling what it will do._

The man in the suit turned towards her. _Yes,_ he agreed, _great power._ He reached out, and her blood turned to ice as he touched her face. _And it is indeed difficult to control, even for her._

_ That's why she's dangerous,_ the man in the lab coat said. _This world is not ready to accept the power she has._

The man in the suit began to laugh. _This world is indeed not ready for it. But she has the power to make it change._ He leaned over her, and Emily felt her heart stop as she stared into two remorseless black eyes. _She will be our angel of death._

And then the seed burst.

Targets were everywhere. Emily's eyes snapped open, dull and lightless and scanning the world for patterns and openings. The two Windams behind her tugged at her consciousness— the man below burned her heart.

The feeling of death disappeared, and all became clear.

_ Unit Zero-One_, said the voice. _The target spread is before you. Eradicate them._

Emily's eyes flashed.

The Twilight opened fire with its CIWS; the man below vanished, replaced by a field of disjointed body parts and blood. The Twilight whirled around, beam saber flashing to life, and went charging straight at the two dumbstruck Windams.

"She's coming again— !" Grey started—

_ Eradicate them._

The Twilight's beam wings flashed to life and filled the sky with the terrifying wings of light. Grey raised his beam rifle— an instant later the Twilight sawed his Windam's arm off in one swipe and rammed into the IWSP Windam, tearing both of its arms off with a saber slash and sending both Windams staggering to the ground.

More flickers of consciousness tugged at Emily's attention— familiar, allies, comrades, objectives. The Twilight lunged into the sky, turning towards the source of the feeling, finding the hulking shape of a Euclid mobile armor closing in on the _Minerva_, attacking the Chaos and Abyss.

The _Minerva— _her ship, her home, her objective. Emily's eyes flashed.

_ Eradicate them._

—

"Another Euclid," Auel groaned. "Sting, which Attack Pattern?"

The Chaos rattled as the Euclid slammed it with a beam cannon volley. "Dammit, it's just the two of us...let's try— !"

He never finished, as instead the Euclid was slammed with a shimmering red beam blast from above. All eyes turned to the sky, as the heavens lit up with the shimmering afterimages of the Twilight Gundam.

Inside, Emily von Oldendorf narrowed her sights on the Euclid as it wheeled around to face her.

"Emily? How'd you get here so quickly?" Auel cried. "Hey, what are you— "

The Twilight blasted by the Chaos and Abyss, beam saber at the ready.

Sting blinked in surprise. "What? Emily— "

The Twilight charged, brandishing its saber, dancing effortlessly around the Euclid's beam shots and roaring in close. The Euclid desperately skirted aside, deploying a pummeling array of missiles into the Twilight's face. Emily sent her Gundam into a nosedive and cut the missiles out of the sky with a CIWS burst, before smashing through the smoke and tearing a smoking gash in the Euclid's armor with her saber.

_Eradicate them._

The Twilight's beam saber blade shone brightly as Emily increased its power, and she slammed the second boomerang together with the first to create a blazing beam sword.

"What the hell is she doing? Not even Shinn does stuff like that!" Auel shouted. "Emily!"

The Euclid fired again, but the Twilight effortlessly battled the blasts aside with its shining beam sword and charged, slashing off the Euclid's right-hand cannon with a crash. The Euclid's positron reflector flickered— an instant later, the Twilight pummeled it with a blast from its long-range cannon.

"Sting, what the hell is going on? Why isn't she responding?" Auel yelled, looking over at the Chaos.

"She's acting like an Extended!" Sting growled. "Like...like Stella!"

The Twilight charged again, spiraling through the Euclid's desperate fire. The mobile armor started forward with a burst of exhaust— the Twilight somersaulted over the shots—

_Eradicate them._

The Twilight landed atop the Euclid with a crash, driving its beam sword through the cockpit with a screech of twisting metal, and lunging off. The black Gundam turned to watch its foe stagger towards the ground and finally die.

Auel and Sting turned their disbelieving eyes towards the Twilight, and the pilot within.

The Twilight turned and took off towards the battlefield.

—

The Infinite Justice and Savior came to a stop amidst the wreckage of the warring Resistance troops— and inside the latter, the pilot sat in shock.

"Emily did _what?_" Viveka cried, eye wide.

"She took out a Euclid, completely on her own!" Sting exclaimed. "She's not responding to anything we say and she's pushing the Twilight like I've never seen before!"

"What the hell is going on? Athrun— "

Viveka fell silent as her eyes fell on Athrun, finding him holding his head in agony. "This...this pressure..." He looked up painfully at Viveka. "It's...coming from Emily..."

Viveka turned her disbelieving eye to the sky. "It's like that time in Volgograd," she murmured. "Sting, what's she doing now?"

"She just took off," Sting said. "I saw her absolutely butcher a Windam squad in, like, ten seconds. She's unstoppable."

"Athrun, what's going on?" Viveka asked. "Why is Emily doing this?"

Athrun squeezed his eyes shut, as the pulsating presence froze his brain. "She...she feels like...a soldier..."

—

As the Gelzuge moved forward, beam rifles in hand, General Yeager leaned forward anxiously as he watched the reports coming in. The Resistance was falling back in all sectors; victory was almost his—

"General!" someone from the command cabin cried. "A Gundam is approaching our position, sir!"

"A Gundam?" Yeager repeated dubiously. "Scramble the support elements."

He sat back and watched as three squads of Jet Windams rose into the air, rifles and bazookas at the ready. Far up ahead, he could see something shimmering against the dark, gray sky— but it couldn't be—

"General, those are wings of light!" a voice cried. Yeager felt his blood run cold. "_It's the Twilight!_"

"That little girl?" Yeager screamed. "_All troops, engage! Recall the Euclids!_"

Up above, inside the Twilight, Emily eyed her enemies carefully.

_ Eradicate them._

The Twilight surged forward, beam sword flashing to life, and swept into the ranks of the Windams with a crash to impale one of the mobile suits on its sword. The Windams broke formation, opening fire— the Twilight whirled through the sky, afterimages filling the heavens, and tore another foe from the air with a crash. The Windams moved to attack again— and again, Emily dove through their fire and swept her sword through another victim. The Windams began to pull back— Emily cut down four of them with a volley of cannon blows, and as they scattered, went charging into their flanks to tear another out of the sky with a devastating palm cannon strike. The dwindling Windams backed away, beam rifles blazing— the Twilight danced effortlessly through their blows and tore two of them in half with its beam wings. The there remaining Windams backpedaled behind their rifles and shields— with a crash, the Twilight slashed one of them in two. The remaining Windams turned to retreat— Emily brought down one with another long cannon blast.

The final Windam turned around for a desperate final attack— and an instant later, the Twilight put its palm cannon through the cockpit.

Emily's eyes flicked towards the Gelzuge below.

_ Eradicate them._

The Twilight whirled around and charged.

—

**Battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

In the blink of an eye, everything was collapsing.

Danilov stared in disbelief at the map, watching in horror as Yeager's counterattack fell apart almost as soon as it began. A single unit had torn a gaping hole in his lines, and now he could not pull back troops fast enough to defend himself against that single unit.

And that single unit was the Twilight Gundam.

_ So this is what Markav meant..._ he thought. _This is...this is that girl's power?_

"Captain," Vera said, voice quavering. "What...what should we do?"

The captain could not falter. "Yeager's attack is broken," he said, "but our objective of destroying the Resistance force here will be met anyone. Order our pilots to pull out. We will retreat."

He narrowed his eyes at the screen as Vera sent out the order.

_ Project Evolution..._

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"Is that...is that _Emily?_" Roxy cried, staring at the auxiliary screen as the Twilight savaged another squad of Windams with a massive shining beam sword.

"The enemy _Siegfried_ is pulling away," Burt reported. "It appears to be headed for the enemy's staging ground."

"It must be going back to fight Emily," Abbey said. "Captain— "

Meyrin shook her head— if Emily was going to fight like Ares today, then her job as the captain was to take advantage of it. "Tristans, Isolde, target the enemy plane and open fire!"

The _Minerva_'s guns boomed, and with a crash, the _Vienna_ broke in two and staggered out of the sky, exploding before it could reach the ground.

"Continue forward to the enemy's staging ground! Roxy, send out the order to our pilots to return to the ship!" Meyrin ground her teeth as she watched the Twilight plunge into battle.

_Emily, what are you doing...?_

—

Emily coldly surveyed the destruction as the last of Yeager's rearguard went down in flames.

_ Eradicate them._

The Gelzuge rose into the sky, igniting beam blades on its two front legs and charging with a volley of beam blasts. Inside, Yeager snarled at the Gundam with the wings of light.

"I have held this city against the hordes of the Resistance!" he cried. "I will not be denied my victory because of you! _Shoot her down!_"

The Twilight effortlessly dodged the Gelzuge's shots and charged, but its beam sword came crashing down against one of the Gelzuge's own beam blades, and the mobile armor surged forward to push the black Gundam away. The Twilight danced again around the Gelzuge's beam shots, charging in close and stabbing forward with its sword— only to see the reflector appear again to block her blow.

Inside the Gelzuge, Yeager laughed hysterically. "That's right, you can't get through the amplified reflector on this Gelzuge model!" he shrieked. "Now _tear her apart!_"

The Gelzuge stabbed forward with its claws— Emily scowled as she jetted backwards, slapping both aside with her sword and beam shield, and taking off as the Gelzuge fired again.

Emily narrowed her eyes at the hulking mobile armor. The Twilight whirled around, exchanging its beam sword for its towering anti-ship sword and drawing the blade with a flash. It plowed through the Gelzuge's attacks with its beam shield, bringing the sword down with a crash onto the mobile armor's beam blades— and with a shriek of torn metal, the sword slashed through the reflector and ripped off both of the Gelzuge's blades.

"_What?_" Yeager screamed. "_SHOOT HER— !_"

The Gelzuge rocked as the Twilight smashed its sword through the staggering mobile armor's surface, ripping apart its left-hand wing and disabling the reflector.

"_THE MISSILES! FIRE ALL MISSILES!_" Yeager shrieked.

The Gelzuge backed away, opening fire with its beam cannons as a swarm of missiles lifted off from the back of the mobile armor's hull.

Inside the Twilight, Emily let out an even breath. The missiles came shrieking in. Emily narrowed her eyes.

_Eradicate them._

With a blinding flash from the Gundam's eyes, the Twilight Gundam pointed dramatically at the Gelzuge— and the missiles veered away from the black mobile suit, swinging back into the Gelzuge. Yeager screamed in terror as the mobile armor sparked and smoked around him, and shrieked as one of the missiles found the cockpit. The stricken machine staggered back under the force of its own missiles blew it apart, and the ruined machine sank towards the water, until it finally exploded.

Hovering above it all, sword in hand, with shimmering wings of light, Emily watched through the eyes of the Twilight Gundam.

A man's laughter went piercing through her mind— a voice was there, and her eyes went wide in shock.

_ She will be our angel of death._

All went dark.

—

To be continued...


	27. Phase 27: The Witch's Hammer

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

Note: Man, that's the third Russian city I've destroyed in a single fanfic. Sorry Russia, I don't have anything against you guys, honest.

—

Phase 27 - The Witch's Hammer

—

**March 13th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Black Sea**

"So...how are we going to explain this one to Chiao Xu?"

Even as Roxy's question hung in the air like chlorine gas, Meyrin Hawke could only sink uncomfortably into a captain's chair that was suddenly far too big. How to explain this, indeed— when not even the presence of the great _Minerva_ could quell ancient blood feuds and bring victory. But that humiliation paled in comparison to the horrors those Resistance fighters had visited upon their brethren...and onto the already-horror-struck prisoners.

"We don't have to explain anything," Abbey answered, holding her head in her hands and leaning heavily on her console. "It's plain as day what happened. It's not as though it's the first time, either."

Meyrin paused and switched on the intercom. "Doctor, how is Emily doing?"

The weary voice of the ship's doctor answered. "She's still out cold. But these brainwaves are like nothing I've ever seen before..."

"Brainwaves?"

Even without a video feed, Meyrin could sense the doctor's grim expression. "At first blush, it looks like Athrun or Shinn's brainwaves when their sensitivities have been activated. But their waves aren't this sustained. Shinn has theorized that it has to do with her sensitivity, but there's so little medical research on this topic that I can't say for certain. I'm going to have to just wing it, pretty much."

"What about her behavior?" Meyrin continued. "Shinn never taught her that."

"That's on the end of psychology," the doctor said, chuckling tiredly, "and I'll have to refer you to a specialist."

Even in these circumstances, the doctor could make a bad joke. "Well, take good care of her. I'll have someone else handle the rest."

"I've got Shinn here. He'll see to that."

The line went out, and Meyrin sat back with a sigh. "Emily isn't a normal Natural...but there's so little research on Newtypes..." She paused again. "Roxy, do you still have those contacts within the Alliance's database mainframe?"

"Yeah, although some of them might need to be plied with drugs and prostitutes," Roxy answered with a grin. "Hey, can I see your credit card?"

Meyrin blanched at the thought of Roxy with credit. "No. I don't believe the Phantom Pain has been sitting on its hands watching Emily tear their troops apart. They're bound to have some information on her. Find it."

Roxy cracked her knuckles and set to work, as Meyrin sat back.

_ No normal Natural can fight like that...so Shinn was not the first to train her. But if that's the case, then who is she...?_

—

_"Shit, she's still too low!_"

_ The world was dimming as the cold and chilling touch of metal went racing up Emily's spine, as she lay helplessly on a slab of stainless steel and watched an army of lab coat-clad men rushing around a daunting array of equipment. The world was drowning around her— she could feel nothing, not even the sweat on her brow or the beat of her heart, and even the icy touch of her metal bed was beginning to fade. Everything had gone cold._

Am I...going to die?

_ "Her blood glucose just went back into the red— !" a woman started._

_ "Dammit! Is her body rejecting the medication or what?"_

_ "It's something wrong with her brain, doctor," another man answered. "The brain is sending out its own signals through the nervous system. It's like her brain is trying to push her body to keep up with it, and her body just can't."_

_ "Damn you, Gerhardt...introduce the other serum instead, the one that the Director left with us. We have no choice."_

_ Something happened near her arm, but she could not tell what...and a few moments later, the world began to return._

_ "Jesus," the woman said— at last, Emily could see her standing behind one of the control panels. "I haven't seen that kind of hypoglycemia since med school. Doctor, I don't care what the Director says. We've got to keep her here for observation for at least the rest of the week."_

_ "What the hell happened? She came awfully close to permanent brain damage just now. Did he make her run a marathon or what?"_

_ Emily shivered as she felt the same cold and grim presence of the man in charge, and immediately every joint in her body felt as though it was on fire. "The Director feels that Naturals can be pushed to perform better than Coordinators without genetic or chemical alterations. His men were running extensive combat training." He paused uncomfortably. "But this is why you're not allowed to join the special operations branches until you're well into your twenties. Hell, this is why the training regimens for those branches have an eighty-five percent washout rate. A child this young can't handle extended endurance training."_

_ "That bastard," the first man snarled. "This is his own daughter. Who does he think he is?"_

_ "We'll keep her overnight for observation, but the Director may want her back in exercises in forty-eight hours at the least," the doctor said, turning to leave._

_ "Doctor! She almost died!" the woman protested._

_ "Even if she hadn't died today, she came unbelievably close to lasting brain damage that would have made her useless to the project!" the first man added. "He's pushing her too hard! Emily is not a Coordinator!"_

_ "First off, I should remind you that her name is Unit Zero-One, and the Director will have your head if you call her Emily," the doctor answered, with just a touch of sadness in his voice. "Furthermore, I remind you that I have argued your point to him before. Remember when we had to inject her with potassium before her heart exploded, and then electroshock her back to life? I had to spend four hours arguing with him to drop the panic training." He turned again. "The Director doesn't care that he's doing this to his own daughter. The Director long ago ceased to view her as his daughter, if he ever did. I suspect we'll be trying to save her from the brink of death again soon. The most we can do is to make her as fit as possible, so she can survive."_

_ The doctor disappeared, leaving only the two disappointed colleagues._

_ "For Christ's sake, there's some things that are just going too far," the man grumbled._

_ The woman sighed herself. "So this is what they mean when they call her the angel of death...?"_

Emily awoke with a start, but the dim room, the burning joints, and the reluctant doctors were gone. Instead there was the familiar white metal tiling and bright lights and—

"Welcome back to the waking world, Emily," someone said.

Emily turned her trembling, bloodshot eyes to the source, and Shinn Asuka offered a smile.

"_Jesus_," came the relieved sigh of Viveka, as she slumped down onto a chair next to the ever-stoic Athrun Zala. "Don't do that again! I thought you were— " She stopped herself and glanced up at Stella, who was staring down quizzically at Emily with wide and concerned eyes.

"Wha...what happened...?" Emily started, dismayed that she could only manage to croak out that much.

"We were hoping you could tell us," added Athrun.

"Yeah," continued Auel, leaning heavily against an adjacent bed next to Sting, "so what's Unit Zero-One? You were muttering that under your breath when we brought you in."

The words went darting through Emily's mind, and she knew they were connected to something, but that something was hidden in the shadows and she could not reach it. She painfully held her head in her hands instead, as those fragments of memories went trickling through. In the Windam, that strange familiarity with mobile suits; against Shoyou, that flash of gunpowder and blood and sweat; in Volgograd, the voices surrounding her and crushing her mind; in Novorossiysk, the man leaning over her and calling her the "angel of death;" and just now, that horrible memory that appeared, from the dialogue therein, to suggest that lying helpless and in the hands of medical personnel was not something unusual for her.

"I guess there's a lot we don't know about you," Shinn said, rubbing his temples in exasperation. "Are you feeling okay?"

Emily slowly put her head back down on her pillow, blinking painfully as the world lagged behind in adjusting. "I...I'm just tired..."

Shinn glanced wearily at the other pilots, and slowly rose from his own seat. "We'll have to get to the bottom of this sometime," he said. "But for now, just get some sleep. We're crossing over the Black Sea and angling towards the Persian Gulf, but that will take us through Mideast Command, and they're not going to let us through without a fight. I'm sure we'll need you."

Emily closed her eyes painfully as the pilots filed out, and tried to remember the source of the words "Unit Zero-One."

—

The waters of the Black Sea rolled quietly beneath the daunting wings of the _Minerva_ as it cruised south. On the observation deck, even Viveka's sole remaining eye could see the thin sliver of land in the sun-washed twilight sky, that signified the approaching land of Turkey...and the odious world that lay further south.

Athrun was there as well, arms crossed and staring pensively into the horizon. "I take it your family history is kind of mixed up," he started, glancing at Viveka. "It seems safe to say now that somebody was training Emily to be a mobile suit pilot." He paused. "Do you remember anything of it?"

Viveka put her head in her mismatched hands. "I don't remember anything. Our mother was very ill and died when Emily was seven. Emily always seemed to have the same problems as Mom, and every so often she'd disappear for a week or two and everyone would say she was being treated for another illness." She glanced sadly at Athrun. "You don't mean that they were training her to be some kind of super-soldier in the meantime, do you?"

Athrun closed his eyes with a sigh. "Stranger and more horrible things have been done in this world," he said. "Ask Stella Loussier about that."

Viveka squeezed away a tear at the thought of her sister being subjected to the same things as Stella Loussier. "I do remember finding it strange that for a girl who was kept inside and didn't really have any friends because she was sick all the time, she was actually pretty fit," she went on. "But if they were really taking her away for training, why wouldn't she remember it?"

"One of the technologies the Alliance developed in the Extended program was memory writing," Athrun explained. "It's not easy, but it's possible for them to go into a subject's brain and cover up or submerge memories. They can't erase them, but by sinking memories into the subconscious, it has more or less the same effect." He shook his head. "I guess it explains how she's been able to fight so well, though. She isn't learning anything new; she's just remembering things she's been taught before."

"I can't believe they were doing this to her," moaned Viveka. "I mean, Mom had enough problems, and Dad would bring home mistresses all the time and ignored us." She shook her head painfully. "God...he'd screw those brainless bitches in the next room over from Mom's bedroom. She could hear them and everything. And he was doing this to Emily?" The air rang as she slammed her metal fist into the railing. "Dammit! How can you do this to your own daughter?"

Athrun turned his eyes towards Viveka, and could only feel sorrow from her. "Humans have quite a capacity for cruelty," he said. "But they also have quite a capacity for kindness."

"Yeah, well, I'd like to get my hands on the guys who did this shit to her," Viveka growled back, twisting her hand around the railing, "and show them _my_ capacity for cruelty."

Athrun smiled thinly. "It's something to fight for," he replied with a shrug. "One man's revenge is another's justice."

—

**Phantom Island, Indian Ocean**

Another city in flames. That was nothing new to Crayt Markav, as she sat back in the commander's chair deep in Phantom Island's master control room, staring up tiredly at the screen as yet another news report on the chaos in Novorossiysk unfolded.

"Yeager's brigade was wiped out, and Yeager himself was killed by the Twilight," reported O'Brien, ramrod straight at her side. "But the Resistance forces in Novorossiysk collapsed into internecine warfare and have essentially destroyed themselves." He sniffed contemptuously. "They executed all of our prisoners too, and took to the streets. Such barbarians."

Crayt could only smile. "'Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock,'" she said. "Novorossiysk is no longer a concern to us. What of the _Minerva?_"

The screen promptly changed to a grid map of Eastern Europe, southwestern Russia, and the northwestern edge of the Middle East. "The _Minerva_ has crossed the Black Sea and is passing over Turkey," O'Brien said. "Their projected course extends through Turkey and Iraq, down to the Persian Gulf. If their ultimate destination is Carpentaria, they will likely pass through the Strait of Hormuz into the Indian Ocean."

"And walk straight into our arms," Crayt finished. "Once we reach Hormuz, drop anchor and wait. What units are there in the Persian Gulf to soften up our winged friends before they run into our claws?"

O'Brien glanced at a crewman, who dutifully brought up a list. "The carrier _Manhattan_, ma'am," he answered. "Right now it's docked at Dubai Naval Station. There's also a patrol fleet out of Socotra that we could call on as well."

"And Mideast Command?" Crayt continued.

"General Abdulmalik has received his marching orders and is deploying from Al Hasakah." O'Brien shifted nervously. "However, there may be an operational conflict..."

Crayt frowned in annoyance. "Oh?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Tsunomi and her Night Tiger team are in Baku. The _Witch's Hammer_ is there as well."

The frown of annoyance developed into a simmer, but Crayt fought it down with expert ease. Lord Djibril's little assassin was going to step on her toes, but so be it. "The Night Tiger team can exempt itself from even the Phantom Pain's chain of command, should Colonel Tsunomi deem it necessary. Ignore them and proceed with our own interdiction."

"Yes ma'am."

Crayt sat back, grinning at the dotted line that ran down from the northern coast of Turkey to the Strait of Hormuz.

_ You have long evaded God's wrath, Blessed _Minerva_...but now you are hunted by angels._

—

**March 14th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance **_**Archangel**_**-class battleship **_**Witch's Hammer**_**, Baku Caspian Sea Naval Station, Baku, Azerbaijan**

By all measures, the slender woman in the black jumpsuit with a sword on her back and two daggers tied into her ponytail was something of an oddity. With a fabric mask pulled up over her face, only two piercing green eyes showed to bore into their unfortunate targets like the blades strapped to her body. If she was a stealthy and silent assassin, moving through the world like a fish through water, she certainly did not look the part.

But, as Lieutenant Commander Randall noted as he gave a sharp salute on the gangway before his ship, Lieutenant Colonel Misa Tsunomi could not be read by just any measure.

"The _Witch's Hammer_ is prepared to depart, colonel," he reported. Misa duly returned his salute and brushed by him, towards the massive black _Witch's Hammer_, with Randall falling in step behind her.

"Lord Djibril wishes to test the _Minerva_'s young new pilot," Misa said, furrowing her brow in annoyance as she delved into her ship. "We shall see if the Angel of Death deserves her name and reputation."

"The _Minerva_ is heading south through Turkey," Randall continued, "and is projected to pass through Iraq. Marshal Markav has ordered Major General Abdulmalik to move in through the desert and cut them off."

Misa arched an eyebrow at her vessel's captain. "The Syrian Hammer himself? Is he out of desert guerrillas to fight?"

"The _Minerva_ is no mere band of guerrillas."

"I'm sure Marshal Markav won't be pleased that we're involved," Misa chuckled, "but we will move anyway."

The doors to the bridge slid open with a hiss, and the black-uniformed troops inside leapt to their feet to salute. At their head was the iron-jawed man in a mask identical to her own, with the rank tabs of a major and the lined face of a warrior.

"Colonel, we're ready to depart," reported Major Aaron Sanders.

Behind her mask, Misa sighed as she found her chair on the side of the bridge and settled into it. "Randall, command is yours. Set course for Kirkuk. We will plan our next move from there."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Trabzon Province, Turkey**

The angel of death.

Because Emily could not sleep, she instead wandered the halls of the _Minerva_ with that baneful phrase ringing through her head. The concept of death was clear enough, but the word "angel" called to mind strange paradoxes. She tried to remember the context of those awful memories that tore at her consciousness, but there was only darkness.

Her memories took her back instead to her father's stately home in Berlin. The angel of death led her to a soul-wrenching moment when she was seven, asking where her mother had gone. Her father did not answer; instead, the two orderlies in virgin white provided it as they carried her mother's wrapped and bundled body out the door.

She had not cried, she recalled— at least not right away. But as her father angrily ushered her back into her room, under the steely gaze of another one of those frightening military men, it began to sink in that her mother was never coming back. And that led her to the concept of death, and that was when she began to cry.

Of course, there was no solace in the arms of Gerhardt von Oldendorf; only a slap across the face and an order to "shut up, or else I'll give you something to _really_ cry about." That was the night she had learned the still-useful technique of crying without a sound.

But even as she pondered the possibility of herself as the angel of death, she could not help but find more tattered bits of memory. Her recollections of her mother were few, but she could recall her mother's pet name for her youngest daughter: "angel."

Which made the phrase that much worse. Angel of death; the final cessation of life, and all the hopes and dreams and fears and failures that came along with it, brought in the form of a lovely being sent by a loving, divine god. She mulled over that image of herself, a beautiful woman with her hands soaked in blood, and all at once felt a wave of emotions for it: insulted that she was reduced to merely a pretty face, horrified that she was reduced to the final specter at the end of the road, the reaper that demanded the final toll.

Emily blinked in surprise as she found herself on the _Minerva_'s well-worn observation deck, as the ship sailed lazily over the hills of Anatolia. But the deck was not empty; Stella Loussier was there, staring emptily at a river in the land below, winding tortuously through hills and villages.

Now there was a veritable angel of death. Emily had heard enough stories to chill her blood; after depleting her ammunition, Stella had once beaten two Phantom Pain infantrymen to death with the avulsed arm of a dead comrade. Emily had seen enough firsthand, fighting alongside the Extended girl and watching her sleek and feminine Gaia Gundam rip through enemies as though they were dolls. And yet who could suspect this wide-eyed girl, eyes fixed on the river below, of such feats?

Emily leaned against the rail and wondered if she was meant to be like Stella.

—

"It's possible in the manual," Matt Abes explained as he stood next to Shinn and Athrun on the gantry before the silent Twilight Gundam, "but not too many pilots have the instincts to start tinkering with the plasma compression without shorting the sabers out. And even fewer can do that in the middle of combat. So I don't know what to tell you."

Shinn regarded the Gundam's dark eyes for a moment. "Well, it's obvious that she learned to fight long before she met me," he said. "I guess the big question is where."

"Viveka said that she remembers Emily being taken away a lot, supposedly to be treated for illnesses," Athrun added, arms crossed. "If the Eurasian Fed had access to the same memory-writing technology as the Atlantic Fed through the Extended program, it's plausible to say that they could have trained her and submerged her training into her subconscious."

"But that would mean that someone recognized her Newtype talents, and that would have had to take place long before Chairman Dullindal's speech," Abes put in.

Athrun cast his gaze over the Twilight again. "Her style is one of someone who was taught to fight in machines with limited power. She combines thrust vectoring and verniers with the momentum of her machine's moving parts, and moves all of the Twilight's parts as though they're extensions of her own body. It's like watching a human moving in zero-gravity." He glanced again at Shinn. "I don't think that's what you've taught her."

Shinn shrugged in response. "It takes a lot of instinct and experience to move a mobile suit that way. Instinct and experience I didn't know she had."

"Either way, she put wear and tear on the Twilight that we've only had to deal with in your machines," Abes said with a shrug of his own. "Guess we'll have to break out some more of that magnetic coating."

"The stuff does work wonders," Shinn agreed. "The Destiny was about ready to fall apart at the joints before you guys applied the solution."

Athrun leaned back against the railing. "That still doesn't explain the power she showed in Novorossiysk, though," he went on. "It's obvious that you're not the first person to teach her how to fight in a mobile suit, but unless this training program we don't know anything about was more extensive than I thought..."

"She's an even stronger Newtype than me," Shinn said. "So she'll be a more formidable pilot, but..." He closed his eyes sadly. "She'll also be more sensitive, and that means more suffering."

Athrun regarded the young Coordinator beside him for a moment. "Are you protecting her for her powers?"

"I'm protecting her so she can bring out her powers and protect herself," Shinn answered. He shook his head. "But now I don't know what the hell is going on."

—

To use some uncharacteristic parlance, Rau mused, having one's own intelligence apparatus was awesome.

The Rau Le Creuset spy network was hardly as formal and organized as a national intelligence agency, but it would more than suffice. Few of his contacts around the world had any knowledge of this mysterious "Project Evolution," but the few that did had offered him gold.

He read eagerly over the dossier. A military project, a secret of the highest order in the Eurasian Federation, it was founded by then-lowly military official Gerhardt von Oldendorf, who noticed the unusual powers of precognition and communication in his bedridden wife, Lorelei. Where a man with a conscience would have left it at that, Gerhardt turned his wife over to science. Unfortunately for Gerhardt, Lorelei's body was too frail to withstand the rigors of science, and instead Gerhardt forced her to withstand the rigors of childbirth, producing a little girl with cherry-red hair and an equally fiery temperament.

Rau smiled as he felt the presence of Viveka fortuitously walk past outside his room. Clearly, she had been the failure, because that pesky mechanism of genetics called "dominant and recessive alleles" had kicked in to rob Viveka of the Newtype traits locked away in Lorelei's DNA. For some reason, the less-than-compassionate Gerhardt had kept his otherwise useless crimson-haired daughter, and waited for four more years before subjecting Lorelei to the rigors of childbirth once more.

The Newtype presence of little Emily pulsed somewhere on the _Minerva_. Rau grinned.

Now there was the child Gerhardt wanted, possessing and exhibiting every molecule of Lorelei's Newtype DNA. Even more fortuitously, she had been blessed by the fickle gods of fortune and nature with a brain that could amplify those waves and powers, and a nervous system that could process all of it at higher speeds than average. All she lacked was the enhanced body of a Coordinator, but that would not stop Gerhardt von Oldendorf.

Rau needed no secret files and leaked documents to understand that Emily had been trained in mobile suit combat. Interestingly, the files had mentioned that the standard her Eurasian handlers measured her against was the ultimate yardstick of Kira Yamato in the Freedom Gundam during the Valentine War, and their final analysis of her placed her performance at a comparable level— while piloting a Eurasian Hyperion Gundam unit. Now that was a duel Rau was looking forward to watching.

Certainly this explained much, but not everything. Rau sat back, staring pensively at the screen, as a single major thread still dangled loose in the wind.

_ Lorelei von Oldendorf...you died when Emily was only seven years old. But if your genes were so important to your husband that he preserved them in two daughters and risked your fragile life in the process, surely he took advantage of less...natural avenues as well._

The thought of contemplating clones was rather repellent to the masked man, but it was nonetheless a necessary track for his thoughts to run down. Surely Gerhardt would not be so foolish as to leave his dead Newtype wife's genes solely in two daughters— two daughters who could be wrenched from his control.

_ So somewhere out there,_ Rau thought with a smile, _you have a clone, Lorelei. And I am going to find it._

—

"...Emily was scary."

In the _Minerva_'s crew lounge, Sting and Auel looked up from their drinks in surprise at Stella's voice, finding her staring as well into her own drink. They shared a glance.

"What, you mean in the battle?" Auel asked. Stella nodded slowly.

"Stella doesn't like it when people turn scary," she added. "'cuz they're friends."

"Emily's not always scary," Sting said with a shrug, pausing for a slug of coffee. "But she's having problems right now, so we'd better just leave her be."

"Is something scary gonna get her?" Stella asked, eyes wide and tinted with fear.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Auel muttered, stopping only when Sting kicked him in the shin.

"Nothing scary is gonna get Emily," Sting said. "We're all friends and we all protect each other. Remember?"

Stella nodded slowly, and the two more whole-minded Extended sighed and sank into their seats.

"Still," Sting went on, "I wonder what that was all about."

"Athrun and Shinn said that they must've been training her before they met," Auel said. "I guess there's more to her than we thought."

Stella looked up again. "Is Emily like Stella?" she asked.

Sting sighed and finished his coffee. "I guess we'll find out."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Black Sea**

"Are we on the right side?"

Merau looked up in surprise as she sat beside Grey in the _Charlemagne_'s small crew lounge. She looked over at the young Phantom Pain pilot, finding him staring emptily into a cup of coffee that had long ago ceased to be warm.

"You're not thinking of defecting, are you?" Merau hissed, glancing worriedly around. "They'll kill you just for thinking about it."

"I-I know," Grey started. "I'm not. But..." He shook his head. "Are we really doing the right thing if we're the ones who are killing innocent people? I mean, we both saw that prison camp in Novorossiysk."

Merau sat back with a sigh. "Grey, you're still that little boy from California who showed up for training at Volkov. It's just a different world you're talking about."

"Whether or not you grew up with murders and massacres all around you doesn't make it right," Grey shot back.

"But you can't do anything about it," Merau answered. "There's too much evil in the world to fight it by yourself. You're better off trying to make your way through it."

Grey only sighed and returned his gaze to his coffee. "Y'know, back when I was that little boy in California, they taught us about World War II, and how one side tried to annihilate an entire race of people. How they gathered them up out of their homes and sent them to these camps and slaughtered them like cattle."

Merau arched an eyebrow. "I thought you said you spent all history class making out with your girlfriend."

Grey ignored the bait. "It's hard to make out with anyone when they show you clips of genocide." He looked back up at her again. "Is that what we're like?"

Merau sighed again and shook her head. "You're only going to suffer if you keep thinking so hard about this," she said. "I'm not saying it's right, but...just let it go."

Grey closed his eyes and tried not to think of history class.

—

_So you're okay with the mass execution of innocent civilians as well! You're on a roll, Sven! What's next? Genocide? Exactly how are you different from those Resistance guys your bosses keep harping about?_

Standing on the gantry above the _Charlemagne_'s sprawling hangar, Sven Cal Bayan gritted his teeth as the mocking voice of his younger self reached his ears. Always that insufferable brat was standing in his way and inflicting on him the doubts that would one day get him killed.

_ Orders are orders. My job is to carry them out, not judge them._

_ Then what are you if you just do what you're told? Aren't you just a piece of machinery? A tool? Come on, you're smarter than that. Right?_

_ I am a soldier._

_ Yeah, but you're not a robot. The fact that I'm still here proves that._

Sven scowled and turned on his heel, storming deeper into the ship. The child skipped after him.

_ So let's engage in a few hypotheticals here, 'kay? What would you do if your superiors ordered you to kill Shams and Mudie?_

_ My orders are my orders. I must fulfill them or be killed._

_ So that makes it okay to kill the only two people who are anything resembling friends to you?_

_ My superiors have no reason to order me to kill Shams and Mudie._

_ Oh, like they need one._ The child could not help but laugh. _Come on, you're a smart guy. You know that any reason, including no reason, is good enough for the Phantom Pain to kill someone. You've even done that yourself._

Sven found himself in front of the crew lounge. The door slid open, and Sven blinked over at Shams and Mudie, the former bent over the pool table and studying a shot that appeared hopeless.

"Oh, hey, Sven!" Shams said, looking up. "Hey, get over here and kick Mudie's ass for cheating."

"I'm not cheating," Mudie said wearily, glancing idly over the table. "You just suck. Even still."

Sven brushed past them both.

_ So would you kill them if they ordered you to?_

_ Shut up._

—

"_Minerva_ entering Van Province, Turkey," the sensor officer reported.

Danilov sat back, stroking his chin thoughtfully. The _Minerva_'s projected course took it south through Turkey and Iraq, entering the Persian Gulf somewhere by the Shatt al-Arab waterway, where the Euphrates river reached out to the sea. From there they were expected to negotiate the treacherous Strait of Hormuz and head south over the Indian Ocean, angling for Carpentaria.

Against that, Marshal Markav had sent nothing less than Phantom Island itself to the Strait of Hormuz, trapping the _Minerva_ in a natural bottleneck. She also seemed to be gathering other support elements, if recent activity in Socotra was any indication. But the plan relied as well on the softening-up action of Major General Ibrahim Abdulmalik, the premier Alliance Army commander in Mideast Command, who had made his name fighting guerrillas from Gaza to Baghdad. Surely he would give the _Minerva_'s fearsome captain a headache or two.

Danilov resolved to make that three.

"We'll follow the Euphrates River south to the Shatt al-Arab and lie in wait for them there. They'll have to pass us if they want into the Persian Gulf, and if they get by us, we'll be able to hit them from behind when they run into Phantom Island." He glanced at Vera, standing at his side. "What do you think?"

Vera smiled helpfully. "They'll have no escape."

Danilov smiled as well and pushed down the specter of doubt. "Helm, take us to the Euphrates river. We have a date with the _Minerva_."

—

**March 15th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Van Province, Turkey**

The Savior Gundam was typical of ZAFT-built Gundams. Despite its heavy firepower and surprising maneuverability, the operating system and internal workings of the Gundam were much the same as the _Minerva_'s other machines. Thus, it was nothing new to Athrun Zala as he delved into the Savior's operating system at Viveka's request.

Viveka, meanwhile, could only watch in surprise as Athrun worked with lightning speed over the intricate computer controls of her loyal steed. She blinked and looked up at him.

"So, that's what it's like to be a Coordinator?"

Athrun stopped, looking up at her.

"I mean, you have to be," Viveka went on, "because I've never seen anybody work that fast before— "

"It doesn't matter," Athrun said abruptly.

Viveka paused for a moment. "Of course it does," she said. "It's part of who you are. There's no getting around that."

The words bit into Athrun's brain. Of course he could not escape who he was. He was the son of Patrick Zala, the man who in no uncertain terms wanted to annihilate all Naturals, and was prepared to exterminate every living thing on the Earth to do it, had it not been for a subordinate's intervention. He was the bodyguard of Cagalli Yula Athha, the girl who was going to resurrect the United Emirates of Orb, but could not see into the depths of her brother's heart and find the darkness that had supplanted it. Now he was the man in the Gundam called Justice, and his name and his Gundam's distinctive color sent chills down the spines of the Earth Alliance. There was no escaping that.

But there was also no escaping, then, the blood-soaked legacy of his father, or the grand historical failure of the Athha family, or the fear and hatred that so much of the Earth Sphere had vested in him.

"There will be someday," he said quietly, and set back to work.

—

_"How come you have to stay in bed all the time, mommy?"_

_ The question was simple, and yet the woman in layers of blankets, with unearthly pale skin and wide, sparkling eyes, could not immediately answer. She paused for words, and even Emily could see the difficulty her venerable but bedridden mother had in answering._

_ "I'm afraid my body just isn't as strong as yours," Lorelei said, settling for a warm smile. "But the doctors said that I'll get better soon and I won't have to stay in bed all the time."_

_ "Okay!" agreed six-year-old Emily. "Then I'm gonna help mommy get better!" She paused as her train of thought ran up against an unforeseen roadblock. "Um, what should I do...?"_

_ Lorelei smiled back. "The best thing you can do," she said, reaching down to awkwardly embrace her young daughter, "is keep being my little angel."_

Sixteen-year-old Emily stared at the ceiling as the word clung to her soul.

_ Angel, huh?_

She glanced across her room, at the titanic manual for the Twilight Gundam resting on her table. Angel? She had an angel's wings in battle, and brought death without discrimination or—if Novorossiysk and Volgograd were any indication—remorse. Was that the kind of angel her mother had in mind?

"Am I still your angel, mom?" Emily asked softly, turning her eyes back to the ceiling. "'cuz I know you're an angel right now, and maybe you know better than me."

The only answer came in the form of baneful memories of the battles she had fought— of fighting back Kenta Shoyou, of battling Kyali Sekar, of tearing down Harris Meyers, of descending upon Volgograd and Novorossiysk with an angel's wings and bringing only death.

Emily closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, mom."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Archangel**_**-class battleship **_**Witch's Hammer**_**, East Azerbaijan, Iran**

"Fortress Aqrah."

The word meant "fire" in Kurdish, and it was clear to Misa Tsunomi why. The sprawling military compound called Aqrah Fortress was officially billed as the compound of the local militia, whose people kept safe the countryside in the Eurasian Federation's Kurdistan province in southwest Asia. But the reality was that Fortress Aqrah, home of the _peshmerga_ and a powerful base by any measure, was a Resistance stronghold and the last reliably friendly safe house that travelers could find before making their way into the inhospitable desert and the domain of the Syrian Hammer. Beyond that laid local militias and groups whose loyalty lay in doubt.

"The _Minerva_ is likely to stop there," said Sanders, arms crossed as he studied the map with the mien of a veteran general. "It's the last stop before Abdulmalik's territory, so they're sure to stock up in preparation of a tough battle."

Misa stared intently at the map for a moment before glancing at the captain's chair. "Randall, what units in the region are open?"

Randal consulted his display for a moment. "The _Siegfried_-class plane _Zurich_ recently put down in Istanbul."

"Scramble them," Misa said. "When the _Minerva_ docks at Aqrah, we will infiltrate and introduce ourselves."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Sirnak Province, Turkey**

The craggy mountains and ridges of southeastern Turkey were war-torn guerrilla country, where all but the most skilled— or most suicidal— Alliance units dared venture. This territory was the home of the long-suffering Kurds, who had found it wise to fit themselves into these remote regions and acclimate themselves to the lay of the Cosmic Era's new land. From the captain's chair of the _Minerva_, even Meyrin had to be impressed with the constitution of anyone, Alliance or Kurd, who could make war on ground like this.

"We're coming up on Fortress Aqrah," Burt reported. "Will we be paying a visit?"

"We're going to have to," Abbey pointed out. "We could use a chance to resupply and repair some of the damage we incurred at Novorossiysk and Volgograd."

Volgograd. It seemed so long ago already, in light of the most recent disaster. Meyrin sighed and rubbed her temples irritably.

"Hey captain, you've got mail," Roxy said, sitting up at her own console. "Speaking of Aqrah, the commandant, Karda al-Imad, sends his regards and says that he's sent a squadron of mobile suits to escort us through his territory, and that he'll offer 'whatever other assistance is in his power to provide.'"

Meyrin sat back herself. "Tell him that we're coming in to dock," she said. "We have a long fight ahead of us."

—

Beyond the unforgiving terrain of Kurdistan, Emily's eyes could see only burning desert as she stood on the windswept deck of the _Minerva_. She blinked in surprise at the roar of a mobile suit's engines and looked around in shock, finding four Jet Dagger Ls in mottled desert camouflage falling into formation around the winged warship. On their shoulders, she could see a red, white, and green flag with a yellow emblem in its center.

"They're on our side," Shinn's voice explained. Emily turned, finding him striding out onto the deck and glancing at the Dagger on the _Minerva_'s portside wing. "We're stopping at a base in northern Iraq before we head down towards the Persian Gulf. If you want to set foot on solid ground, this is your chance."

Emily looked back at the Daggers, fixing her gaze on the mobile suit on the _Minerva_'s starboard side. "Are they _those_ kinds of Resistance soldiers?"

Shinn came to a stop next to Emily, leaning forward against the railing. "Who knows," he said. "Are you okay?"

Emily knew better than to try to lie to Shinn. "I still don't remember anything. Just little bits and pieces of stuff that happened years ago, I think. But I can't make any sense of it or put any order to it."

"What do you see?" Shinn asked.

Emily's eyes clouded as the emotions associated with the memories made their return. "I saw...my mother."

Even Emily noticed the sharp blade of pain that briefly emanated from Shinn Asuka, but chose not to chase it. "What was she like?"

"She was always sick," Emily said, "and she always seemed sad...except when Viveka and I were around. Then she was happy." She shrugged. "But she died when I was little. I don't remember that much of her." Emily cast her eyes towards the desert again. "But she wouldn't want me to be like this.

Shinn smiled banefully.

"No one would."

—

To be continued...


	28. Phase 28: The Angel of Death

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 28 - The Angel of Death

—

**March 15th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva, **_**Fortress Aqrah, Aqrah District, Kurdistan**

Under a cloud of dust and a clear blue sky, the world shook as the mighty _Minerva_ came to a rest on the massive airfield of Fortress Aqrah. The ship's battle-scarred wings slowly folded into the hull; with a final rumble, the engines fell silent, and a great sigh of wind went curling among the towers and barracks and mobile suits of the fortress.

Standing in front of the command complex with arms crossed, the bear of a man who called himself Karda al-Imad straightened out his green and black camouflage fatigues. "They sure know how to make an entrance, don't they?"

At Karda's side, an aide adjusted the maroon beret on his head with a sigh. "I hope they don't have that big battleship on their tail," he said. "We might be able to hold up against it, but I'm not eager to find out for certain."

"Is that any way for a warrior to talk?" Karda chuckled. The aide merely shrugged.

"There's a difference between fighting honorably and fighting stupidly, sir," he protested. "And with all due respect to the fine soldiers on the _Minerva_, they seem to bring trouble with them wherever they go. They already dragged in that _Archangel_-class that's been hovering outside Mosul for a while. I certainly don't want to see Aqrah wind up like Volgograd."

Karda's eyes flashed with determination. "God willing, no city that flies the flag of Kurdistan will wind up like Volgograd, Tekman," he said stonily. "You know that. We will all die before we see our country destroyed by the dogs of the Phantom Pain."

"Of course, and I am fully prepared to die for that cause," Tekman said, "but that doesn't mean I welcome the opportunity to do so if it can be averted. What good are we to Kurdistan if we're dead?"

Karda chuckled. "You're too pragmatic for platitudes. Whatever happened to the old days where you'd roar with approval when I talked about dying honorably for our people, and that would be that?"

Tekman shrugged again. "I would blame the scientists and their calculative, logical thinking, but they keep my ship running."

Sighing and shaking his head, Karda turned his eyes back towards the battered hull of the _Minerva_. "You know, they have a new pilot among their ranks. They say it's a teenage girl. What do you think of that?"

Tekman frowned behind his clipped beard. "You know I don't like mixing faith and military matters."

"Not like that," Karda said, shaking his head again, "but you saw the pictures, didn't you? A pretty young woman with the brand of aristocracy in her name, and she's the pilot of a Gundam. A Gundam, of all things! She killed the Sky Samurai, you know."

Tekman only glanced grimly towards the _Minerva_. "Then that would put us in safe hands, wouldn't it?"

Karda stood up and donned his own beret. "I'll go over and greet them. I'm of a mind to offer them escort through Anbar with the _Saladin_. Will it be ready?"

"By this evening, God willing," Tekman said. Karda smiled up at the _Minerva_.

"The _Minerva_ is the emissary of Chiao Xu's Resistance. If we want to maintain our supply lines with the rest of the Resistance, we'll have to treat her well."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Archangel**_**-class battleship **_**Witch's Hammer**_**, Aqrah District, Kurdistan**

"The _Minerva_ has docked at Aqrah," the sensor officer reported from the CIC. Behind her mask, Misa smiled as she eyed the distant point on the map.

"As predicted," she said. "Randall, move the _Witch's Hammer_ in closer."

Sanders glanced over at her in surprise. "You don't mean to launch a frontal assault, do you?"

"Of course not," Misa answered. "With only one ship, we would not be very successful. But we have mobile suits outfitted with Mirage Colloid." She glanced back at the map. "Karda al-Imad is the leader of that unit, is he not?"

"He is indeed, ma'am," Randall said from the captain's chair. "And his troops are supplied by Chiao Xu's followers."

Sanders glanced over at the map himself, looking stressed. "We only have our N Daggers and your Nero Blitz unit," he said. "Kenta Shoyou was taken down by Oldendorf in a second-generation machine. Harris Meyers was killed in a third-generation machine. We would be well outmatched by the _Minerva_'s fourth- and fifth-generation Gundams."

"Then we should avoid a direct confrontation, shouldn't we?" Misa responded. "Lord Djibril has sent us to gauge their strength. We will do so by attempting to assassinate Karda al-Imad. Surely that will draw them into a fight." She stood up quickly. "Randall, take us in."

—

**Fortress Aqrah, Aqrah District, Kurdistan**

Another base, another commander who had a hard time believing that the _Minerva_ was commanded by two teenage girls. Meyrin did find it annoying, but it was also hard to feel much more than intimidation in the presence of the towering Karda al-Imad. Something about huge men with beards was just frightening. And since she and Abbey were standing on the tarmac in front of their silent warship, something made Meyrin feel just a little less safe.

Plucking up her courage and wondering why every Resistance leader seemed to be a giant, she offered the nonplussed Karda al-Imad a salute. "Thank you for allowing us to dock, Commandant Imad," she said, settling for clipped military formality. "We will not be here long."

"What kind of Resistance unit would we be if we didn't welcome the mighty _Minerva_ with open arms?" Karda asked, answering her salute with one of his own. "We have much to discuss, so please, don't feel hurried to leave. To the south is the jurisdiction of the Syrian Hammer, and I assure you, you'll want to be ready for him."

The Syrian Hammer. Now there was an unsettling name— Ibrahim Abdulmalik was the man who made his name slashing and burning his way through the Middle East, meeting the fearsome Israeli Separatists blow for blow in battle and slowly rolling back a panoply of terrorist groups and militias across the Levant. That was not a man Meyrin was looking forward to fight— although she did have cards in her hand that few others could match.

"We don't intend on staying long regardless," Meyrin went on, "because we want to get to Carpentaria quickly. And that incident in Novorossiysk..."

Karda's eyes darkened knowingly. "General Abdulmalik will likely put up a fierce fight. I offer you escort through the Anbar desert, down to the Shatt al-Arab. We know the land well."

Meyrin paused in surprise, before offering a smile. "Thank you, commandant. We appreciate it." She turned towards the _Minerva_'s elegant prow. "The Syrian Hammer will have quite a challenge on his hands, won't he?"

Karda grinned behind his beard. "All hammers break at some point. Come, captain; we have much to discuss."

—

Leaning against the railing of the _Minerva_'s observation deck, Shinn Asuka cast a wary glance towards the airfield below, where workers were attaching pipes to the ship and opening up the hangars to ferry in supplies. Culture informed the temperament of the inhabitants of whatever base he stopped in, and dictated the degree of adulation, but never stopped the adulation from happening.

Stella was there as well, staring blankly at the airfield. Shinn idly wondered what she thought of the girls who threw themselves at him, and then remembered Kika's point from so long ago— that chances were good she had no idea what was going on, or what they wanted.

"It's hot out here..." Stella murmured.

Shinn glanced up at her. "It's gonna get hotter," he warned. "We're going into the desert. There's no water out there."

Stella turned that thought over in her mind for a moment. "Are there scary things out there?" she asked.

"Nothing that's scarier than you," Shinn answered with a smile. "We'll be okay. I'll protect you, remember?"

A slow nod; Shinn held back a sigh. By now he was used to Stella's slow side, and since she was lightning-fast when it counted, he supposed it was just part of who she was now, whether or not it had been part of who she was meant to be.

Still, three years with only halting progress towards improving her mental faculties was frustrating, and he still had those damnable lingering doubts as to whether or not changing her was as morally bankrupt as what the Alliance had done to her.

"Hey, Shinn," she started again, turning her big violet eyes towards him. "How come you have so many friends?"

Shinn blinked in surprise, his mind going immediately to his friends that were no longer living. "What do you mean?"

"Whenever Shinn goes out, people are happy to see him," Stella continued, fumbling over her words. Shinn tried not to blush as he recounted just how happy some of those people had been to see him. "How come?"

_ Guess it's got nothing to do with my natural charisma,_ Shinn thought amusedly. "We're all pretty famous," he said instead. "I bet if you went out more often, you'd have your fair share of fans as well."

Of course, Shinn was not about to let that happen. He had enough to worry about with Emily.

Stella thought that over and slowly smiled. "Stella is glad that Shinn has so many friends."

Shinn smiled back and tried to feel the same way.

—

The wind curled around her and ruffled her hair as Emily ventured tenuously out of the iron walls of the _Minerva_, setting foot on the solid tarmac below and liking the feeling of a floor that was not moving or held up by a complicated machine whose workings baffled her. The captain was meeting with the base's commandant, and the Twilight had been tuned and retuned during the flight over Turkey in anticipation of an attack that never came. Rather than get in the way, she instead resolved to spend some time in Fortress Aqrah, where she might perhaps escape the baneful images of her mother and the angel of death.

A knot of men were on their knees nearby, murmuring in a language Emily didn't know, and bowing reverently to the ground. She glanced up at the sky, finding them facing south, and hurried out of the way. Not everyone was praying, but at their head was an imposing man with a gnarled beard and a jagged scar over his right eye.

"Who the hell are you?"

Emily whirled around at the voice, and her eyes went wide as she found herself staring down the barrel of a handgun. She followed the hand that held it up to an irate girl in a green and black camouflage fatigue, twisting her dusty olive-skinned features into a scowl.

"I said, who are you?" the girl repeated, removing the safety. Emily took a hesitant step back. "This is a restricted area."

"I-I'm with the _Minerva_," Emily answered quickly, putting her hands up defensively. "The commander said I could..."

She trailed off as the girl eyed her suspiciously for a moment, and then jammed the gun back into its holster in annoyance. 'Well, quit wandering around like that," she said tersely. "You sure don't look like a soldier."

Emily turned that phrase over in her mind for a split-second. "But I am," she started. "I'm a mobile suit pilot."

At that, the girl merely laughed and shoved past her, heading towards a nearby hangar. Emily sighed, following her trail and looking up at the daunting shape of a Dagger L in brown and tan desert camouflage, with that red, white, and green flag on its left shoulder and a yellow crescent moon and star on its right. The mechanics were working on a Jet Striker pack affixed to its back— Emily guessed that that was one of the Daggers that had escorted the _Minerva_ in.

Almost unbidden, Emily thought back to Shinn's reception in Poljarny, and decided that at least no one was groping her. And so she turned back towards the base and resolved to distract herself.

—

"For the last time, Viveka, they're not staring because they like it," Athrun said wearily, sweat dripping from his brow as he worked in the close confines of a fuse box behind the Infinite Justice's cockpit seat, with Viveka leaning against the center console on the hatch. "This isn't really a culture that smiles upon unnecessarily bare skin."

Viveka glanced down at her black tank-top. "Well, I'm not changing. It's hotter than the Devil's asshole here."

Athrun gave up with a sigh and pulled himself out of his Gundam's insides. "You think it's hot here, just wait 'til we go through Iraq and Kuwait," he said, wiping away the sweat. "And that's not even counting Mideast Command."

"What's so bad about them anyway?" Viveka asked, shuffling aside and leaning against the hatch jamb as Athrun emerged and yanked off his jacket. "I heard some things in Bretagne, but really."

Athrun glanced back dubiously at her. "You ever hear of the Blood Rivers of Damascus?"

Viveka thought for a moment. "Heard the name, but that's it. Sounded like some kind of bad garage band. Why?"

"In CE 75, there was a huge Resistance unit led by a local sheikh in the Levant." Athrun's eyes darkened, and Viveka wondered if this was a story with personal investment. "They tried to march on Damascus and seize the city. Mideast Command moved in under the command of Ibrahim Abdulmalik. They fought block-by-block through the entire city for three weeks, killed eighty thousand people. No journalists were allowed anywhere near Damascus during the operation, and when they were finally allowed into the city, it was ringed with huge stakes that had impaled Resistance soldiers hanging off them." Viveka's eye went wide in disbelief. "Apparently, it was a subordinate who did that, because Abdulmalik had a whole company of his own men hanged for war crimes afterward. But still, that's what we'll be up against when we try to cross that desert. He's not a man to be trifled with."

"Holy shit," Viveka answered simply.

Athrun heaved a sigh, looking across the hangar at the silent Twilight Gundam. Even with its Phase Shift down, it looked like the bloodlust of the battle in Novorossiysk was still coursing through it. He had no doubt that the Syrian Hammer could not match the _Minerva_'s pilots, but that did not mean it would be easy.

"Well, he's never had to deal with us, has he?" Viveka asked, echoing Athrun's thoughts. "I bet we could kick his ass."

Athrun smiled. "Always a silver lining with you, isn't there?" he shot back, heading back inside the Justice.

—

Kicked back against a wall and watching in boredom, Auel could not help but yawn as he watched the local officers conduct drills with a column of foot soldiers. Drill was so passé.

"So what's our road trip through the Middle East looking like?" he asked tiredly, glancing over at Sting as he took a slug of water.

"Going down through Iraq and into the Persian Gulf, through the Strait of Hormuz, into the Indian Ocean, and down to Carpentaria from there," Sting answered. "Barring any unforeseen fuck-ups, of course."

"And we're just gonna waltz past the Sri Lanka base?" Auel scoffed.

"No, I'm thinking more of a salsa," Sting shot back. "Of course they'll try something, but we'll keep far south enough to make it a real stretch for them."

Auel sighed again and mopped back his hair. "This sucks," he said. "So you think we can get some kind of cool-ass refits at Carpentaria?"

Sting merely shrugged. "I asked Abes, and he said he'd see, but they didn't promise anything."

Another sigh. "Well, we have to be able to keep up with Emily, next time she does something crazy."

"I hear ya."

Auel glanced back at the marching soldiers. "So you think she's an Extended?"

Sting paused over his water. "Shinn says that he doesn't sense any of that weird distortion that he gets from us and Stella," he answered. "He said it's like the pressure he feels from Athrun." He swirled his drink around for a moment. "Maybe we should plan for a stop at Lodonia sometime, eh?"

Auel's eyes darkened painfully. "Never thought it'd be a good idea to go back there."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Archangel**_**-class battleship **_**Witch's Hammer**_**, Aqrah District, Kurdistan**

"Blue Team will stand guard with our mobile suits, keeping the Mirage Colloid cloak active and maintaining radio silence," Misa said, standing before her pilots and soldiers as they assembled around a handful of battered jeeps. "Red Team will come with me. A single person has a better chance of infiltrating the security, so I will dispatch the target. Red Team will secure our escape route. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" the soldiers chorused, with crisp salutes all around. Misa turned towards her kneeling Nero Blitz, its eyes dark.

_ The little angel of Project Evolution is out there as well...I'm looking forward to this_.

"Colonel," Sanders said, approaching and drawing up his mask. "The _Zurich_ reports that it is on approach and will enter Aqrah's suspected radar range in ninety minutes."

"Perfect." She shouldered her silenced sniper rifle. "With any luck, we will be able to kill some of the _Minerva_'s leaders. But our real objective is to draw them into a fight and gauge their new pilot. Will you be up to that task?"

"Of course," Sanders answered, donning his helmet and saluting. Misa smiled beneath her mask.

"Good. Commence operation."

—

**Fortress Aqrah, Aqrah District, Kurdistan  
**

At night, Fortress Aqrah looked less like a fortress and more like a city with a disproportionately large airport. Bright lights illuminated the fortress's grounds, allowing workers to continue with their night shifts and keep the base's defenses alert at all hours. And more importantly, the light allowed for a bit of heat, which was not something that one would have wanted more of during the day...but at night, as the temperature fell, it became far more appealing.

From her perch atop a wayward ammunition crate bathed in the moonlight, Emily watched as the soldiers around the base changed shifts, with the bleary-eyed day shift shambling towards the barracks and the somewhat-less-bleary-eyed night shift trudging out to pick up the slack. Some of them nodded or tipped their caps, but on a whole, few seemed to notice her— not that she was making an effort to be noticed.

"Move," someone said. Emily glanced aside and found that same surly-faced girl from before, this time with an assault rifle slung over her shoulder. She duly hopped off the crate, and the girl wrenched it open with the toe of her boot, before fishing out a handful of bullets and pulling the magazine off of her rifle.

"Um, what's your name...?" Emily started. The girl merely stared at her. "I'm Emily."

The girl paused for a moment, before returning her attention to the rifle. "Lance Corporal Aza al-Khaliq," she answered.

Emily searched for words, as an awkward silence took over.

"I'm a mobile suit pilot," Aza added, sliding bullets into her rifle's magazine, with the sound of metal on metal punctuating her words. "I escorted the _Minerva_ here." She finished and snapped the magazine back into place with a hollow click, and turned to cast her cold brown eyes on the Twilight's pilot.

"Well, I'm a pilot too— " Emily started, only to stop as Aza laughed again.

"There's no way you can be a mobile suit pilot," she said with a smirk. "Look at you. You can't even stand up for yourself in a conversation." She shook her head. "They kept saying the _Minerva_ had a new pilot who had already killed Alliance aces, but you must not be it."

Emily wondered momentarily about telling Aza that she was the Twilight's pilot, and then decided not to bother.

"You'd better grow a spine," Aza chuckled, pushing past her again, "or you'll die."

Emily glanced after the iron-willed girl as she headed off with an assault rifle over her shoulder and ice in her eyes.

—

Standing before a sprawling paper map of Iraq laid out on a table in what seemed to be a discarded office turned conference room, Karda crossed his two titanic arms over his chest, with a broken red line pointing down from Fortress Aqrah through the unforgiving desert of Anbar, before curling down to the Shatt al-Arab at the mouth of the Euphrates river. Meyrin and Abbey studied it for a moment, before looking back up at Karda.

"So you suggest we don't stop anywhere," Meyrin concluded. Karda shook his head.

"The western cities are rather violent. We'll swing west of Ramadi and Nasiriyah and put you down through Basra to get to the Shatt al-Arab."

"'We?'" Abbey asked, arching an eyebrow. "You're coming too?"

"We will escort you to the sea in our flagship, the _Saladin_," Karda elaborated.

"You'll have to fight Abdulmalik, then," Meyrin warned. Karda merely shrugged.

"We are the only ones he cannot kill. And with the _Minerva_ on our side, how can we lose?" His thin smile disappeared. "Furthermore, to the south there is a militia that may pose you problems. The Husam al-Din has done battle with our troops as much as they fight the Alliance, and those brutes will probably take a swipe at you. We will— "

Karda said no more, as Abbey lunged at him and tackled him to the ground— an instant later, the glass of a nearby window shattered as a bullet went streaking through, embedding itself in the wall. Meyrin snapped her gun out of her coat, firing three rounds through the broken window. A flash of movement out the adjacent window caught her attention— she leapt through feet-first, shattering the window and landing with a crunch of crushed glass, taking off after a fleeing human figure. She pulled her headset up to her ear as shouts went up and she heard the door in Karda's conference room get kicked in, with voices shouting.

"_Minerva_, this is Meyrin," she said breathlessly, pursuing the attacker into the shadows. "Someone just tried to assassinate Karda. Issue Condition Red."

"An alert is going out already," Roxy answered. "But we've got problems. There's a _Siegfried_-class on an attack bearing, and that _Archangel_ is on the move too."

Meyrin clenched her teeth, rounding a corner and throwing herself to the ground as a pair of bullets slammed into the wall above her. She squeezed off a pair of return shots, but the attacker was already running, and Meyrin leapt to her feet to follow.

"Get Abbey back there to take over in my absence," Meyrin ordered. "I'm chasing the attacker. Prepare to get the ship airborne!"

She ducked again as more gunshots split the air, and looked up in surprise— only to widen her eyes in disbelief as something went spiraling out of the air, and only instinct saved her from a jet black throwing knife that nearly speared her head.

"What is this...?" she started, as she snapped her gun back up and fired. She heard feet hit the ground below, and took off again.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"What the hell is going on?" Vino shouted as he raced down the gantry as the Legend Gundam came to life. Emily leapt up onto the catwalk, looking around frantically, even as the Chaos Gundam took off with a flash out the portside catapult. "I heard someone tried to kill the commander!"

"Is that what's going on...?" Emily started. "Vino, is the Twilight ready?"

"Yeah, just don't try to break it like you did last time," Vino answered, heading down the gantry towards the Savior. Emily shook her head and shoved aside the memories of "last time," raced into the cockpit of her war machine, and slammed the hatch shut behind her.

Activating the Twilight was like instinct now, and within moments, the cockpit screens lit up with the view of the world through the Twilight's eyes. Emily guided her Gundam out to the starboard catapult.

"Roxy," Emily said as her face appeared on the auxiliary screen, "what's going on?"

"There's a _Siegfried_ and an _Archangel_ approaching, and apparently someone just tried to kill Karda," Roxy answered. "The _Siegfried_ is launching mobile suits. Abbey is on her way back here. Get out there and kick some ass."

Emily snapped her restraints shut. "Right. Twilight, launching!"

—

_Shit, I had him right there!_ Misa thought furiously as she raced through the back alleys of Fortress Aqrah. _Am I being chased by a Coordinator?_

Misa whirled around, drawing the two daggers worked into her ponytail, and hurling them down with expert precision towards her pursuer. Behind her, Meyrin yelped in surprise as the daggers streaked by her, grazing her cheek and sending a flame of pain shooting up from her face. She winced, clutching the wound and firing back, but the slender black assailant landed in front of her on one foot and kicked her gun aside, before raising a sword in her right hand—

The sword went wide as a gunshot rang out and a bullet struck the blade, knocking it off course and sending it slicing over Meyrin's head instead of through her neck. Meyrin seized her chance and lunged forward, planting a solid left hook onto her foe's face and sending the black-clad figure staggering back. The attacker leapt away just as more gunshots rang out, and Meyrin glanced up as Shinn Asuka sprinted into view, offering his hand to help Meyrin up.

"A _ninja!_" cried Shinn breathlessly. "Who in the hell sends _ninjas_ to kill people? Christ, are you alright?"

Meyrin rubbed her cheek testily, glaring down at the blood. "She was either an Extended or a Coordinator," she answered. "She's gone now, but the whole base is on alert. She can't get far, can she?"

"I'm going for the Destiny," Shinn said. "Let's get back to the ship."

—

The Twilight Gundam landed with a crash on the airfield, even as tracer rounds and missiles lit up the night sky and the massive shining arms of searchlights reached into the heavens. Emily scanned the sky for attackers— instead, instinct flared up and the white bolt told her to whirl around. Just as she did, something came crashing down against her beam shield.

Standing before her, with a massive curved katana slammed against her shield, a green and black N Dagger N was ready for battle. Inside, Aaron Sanders narrowed his eyes at the black Gundam before him.

"Is this the little girl the Alliance fears so much...?" he muttered, lunging forward and shoving the Twilight back. Emily ground her teeth as her foe raised its sword for another blow—

"Not like that...!" she snapped, lunging forward and delivering a dizzying spinning kick to the Dagger's face, sending it staggering back. She landed with a crash and snapped her rifle up for a killing blow, only to see it blocked by the Dagger's shield as it backpedaled, sword in hand.

"Emily, there are three more of those N Daggers," Roxy's voice cut in. "Can you handle them?"

The Twilight rattled as Emily exchanged her rifle for her saber and blocked the Dagger's furious sword stroke. "Um, no," she answered.

"I'll deal with them," Athrun put in. "Viveka, let's go!"

The Dagger fired its Hakenfaust lock anchor straight into the Twilight's face, clamping onto its free left arm and yanking it aside. Emily screamed as her Gundam went reeling, and Sanders planted his mobile suit's feet into the ground as he brought the Hakenfaust around, swinging it towards a building—

"You can try!" Emily shouted— with a cry, she fired the Twilight's engines and rocketed up into the sky. Sanders' eyes widened in disbelief as she used the Hakenfaust to yank the N Dagger into the air, and with a mind-numbing crash, kicked the Dagger in the stomach and smashed it back into the ground.

"Well done, little girl...!" Sanders roared, as his Dagger leapt back to its feet and swung its sword up to block the Twilight's killing saber stroke. "But— !"

The Dagger reached for its second katana, but the sensors inside the Dagger wailed, and Sanders leapt backwards to dodge a wave of beam fire. Both combatants snapped their attention to the side, just in time for the N Dagger to deflect another salvo.

Emily blinked in surprise as the desert camouflaged Dagger L with the flag on its left shoulder and the golden crescent moon on its right twirled two beam carbines on its fingers with a dramatic flourish and fired again at the surprised N Dagger—and a familiar pressure radiated out from the cockpit.

"Aza?" Emily started— an instant later she jumped aside to dodge the N Dagger's beam rifle blast, and whirled around to face her foe.

"Impressive, but your Dagger L is no match for a Ninja Dagger!" Sanders cried, somersaulting off his mobile suit's left hand and spiraling gracefully through the air. He landed with a crash and slammed his sword down against the Dagger L's shield, and his desert-painted foe buckled and fell to one knee under the force of the blow. Sanders kicked the Dagger's left-hand carbine away victoriously, knocking its shield wide, and raised his sword for a killing blow—

"_Forgetting something?_"

Sanders snapped his attention to the side in disbelief as the Twilight delivered a punishing roundhouse kick to his machine's head from behind. As he struggled to recollect his wits and his mobile suit teetered, he looked up, just in time for the Twilight to send him crashing back to the ground with another devastating kick.

Emily turned towards the Dagger L, helping it back to its feet and opening a channel. "Aza! Are you— " She paused in surprise as Aza looked at her in shock. "What is it...?"

"Y-You..." Aza started. "You're the Twilight's pilot?"

Emily glanced urgently towards the N Dagger as it began to rise. "Yeah," she said. "Why?"

Aza was silent for a moment, her eyes wide. "You...you're her..."

"I'm who?" Emily asked.

"...the Angel of Death..."

Emily blinked in surprise.

—

To be continued...


	29. Phase 29: Shadows

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 29 - Shadows

—

**March 16th, CE 77 - Fortress Aqrah, Aqrah District, Kurdistan**

"The Angel of Death?"

The words went ricocheting through Emily's mind— how could this girl have known those words? It could not be a coincidence— was this how she was known?

"It's your nickname..." Aza explained brokenly. Emily could only blink in disbelief.

"My nickname?" The sound of a mobile suit rising to its feet caught Emily's attention, and she glared over at the N Dagger N before her instead. "Since when did I have a nickname...?"

"You were the one who killed Kenta Shoyou, right?" protested Aza. "I didn't know— " The Twilight leapt in front of Aza's kneeling Dagger L, deflecting a beam shot with its shield and blocking the N Dagger's furious sword swipe.

"There's no time for that! Get back!" Emily snapped, even as the N Dagger surged forward and ground the Twilight's feet into the pavement. "Get around him!"

Aza's Dagger sprinted to the side and leveled off its rifle, but the N Dagger backflipped over her shots and fired back with its own rifle, plowing a shot against the Dagger L's shield and sending it staggering back.

"The Angel of Death is a feisty one!" roared Sanders, his N Dagger plunging again towards the waiting Twilight. "At least I'll have a worthy foe!" The sword came down with a crash, followed up by a jarring kick to the Twilight's legs that sent it staggering to one knee.

"It'll take more than that...!" Emily started, seeing her chance as the N Dagger snapped its rifle into position. "Aza!"

The Dagger L came barreling out of nowhere with a barrage of beam blasts, showering the N Dagger and forcing it back behind its shield. As Sanders struggled to regain control, the Twilight surged forward with a roar, slamming into the N Dagger with its shoulder and throwing the green mobile suit back. Sanders yanked back on the controls as the Twilight brought down its saber, tearing an ugly gash over his machine's torso and barely avoiding death.

"That other Dagger is going to have to go," Sanders grunted, planting his mobile suit's feet in the ground and raising his sword defensively. "Looks like she just missed the magnetic field emitter, though..."

Inside the Twilight, Emily glanced back at Aza's Dagger. "You had a Jet Striker on that thing, didn't you? Go back and get it."

"But you'll be all alone with this guy!" Aza protested. Emily smiled back reassuringly.

"I'll handle him." She turned towards the N Dagger...

...and it wasn't there.

—

"Aqrah is scrambling defenses faster than we calculated," Randall's static-broken voice reported from the _Witch's Hammer_, filling the cockpit of the Nero Blitz as Misa strapped herself in. "Major Sanders has reportedly engaged the Twilight. The _Zurich_ has released its own units and is beginning its first attack run."

Misa took a moment to compose herself as the Nero Blitz stood on the outskirts of Fortress Aqrah. None of her four N Dagger Ns had been reported lost yet, but the _Minerva_'s pilots were launching and surely that would not remain the same.

"Bring the _Witch's Hammer_ in for an attack as well," she said. "The _Minerva_ will probably be taking off soon."

"Yes ma'am." The screen went dark, and Misa bit back a curse as her Nero Blitz stepped onto its sub-wing unit and lifted off. Karda survived, the _Minerva_'s captain survived, even Shinn Asuka survived...what a failure—

A blazing beam from the heavens nearly wiped out her sub-wing unit as her instincts screamed, and she wheeled around to face a charging mobile suit she knew all too well.

"So," Misa growled, igniting the Nero Blitz's beam saber, "will you kill me here, Destiny Gundam?"

The Destiny charged, beam wings flashing to life and drawing its anti-ship sword with a baneful crash. The Nero Blitz backed away, beam guns in its claw blazing, and ducked beneath the Destiny's furious opening sword swipe to dive towards the ground.

Inside the Destiny, Shinn scowled as he showered the retreating Nero Blitz with blasts from his long-range cannon. "You aren't the first Blitz unit I've faced," he snapped, "so don't think you can beat me with that Mirage Colloid!"

The Destiny pummeled the Nero Blitz's shield with another blast and knocked it loose from its sub-wing. Misa narrowed her eyes and pierced the subflight system with a beam blast, before kicking it up towards the Destiny— only to ground her teeth in frustration as the Destiny effortlessly chopped through it, ducked beneath the explosion, and charged towards the falling Nero Blitz.

"As to be expected from the Wings of Light," she snarled and lunged back towards the earth, diving beneath the Destiny's finishing sword stroke. Shinn followed with another burst of beam fire, landing with a crash and pointing his sword vindictively at the Nero Blitz as it deployed its oversized claws.

The Nero Blitz, undeterred, took up its beam saber and charged.

—

The sky was packed with anti-aircraft fire as Sting Oakley scanned the battlefield from the cockpit of the rising Chaos Gundam. A handful of desert-camouflaged BABIs and Jet Dagger Ls were rising into the air, but Sting could already count sixteen Jet Windams in formation before the looming _Siegfried_-class carrier that was already approaching Aqrah.

"Sting," called Auel from the Abyss Gundam at his side, "what are we gonna do about those guys back there? Are they coming with us?"

"I hope not," Sting answered. "Last thing I need is a bunch of grunts getting in my way."

Up ahead, the Jet Windams opened fire with a barrage of missiles. Sting responded with the Chaos's CIWS guns, but that was all the time the Windams needed to break formation and spread out around the two Gundams, showering both mobile suits with beam fire.

The Abyss pounded off a barrage of beams from its shoulder shells to force the Windams apart again, and hefted its lance. "Where are the others?" he asked, as the Abyss charged into battle with a blast from its solid cannons.

The Chaos went on the attack, beam rifle blazing, as the Windams split up again and began to engage the BABIs and Daggers instead. "Mr. Mask and Stella are dealing with the Windams on the ground, and the rest are handling those ninjas," he grunted. "And who in the hell practices _ninjutsu_ anyways?" The Chaos stormed forward, released a swarm of missiles from its gunbarrels, and pummeled a squad of Windams up ahead with beam fire.

"I swear, it's like we're living in a cartoon sometimes," Auel snapped. "Sting, blitz them and I'll pick their formation apart!"

With a roar of its engines, the Chaos charged forward, deflecting beams off its shield and firing back madly. The Windams darted apart as the Chaos sliced through their formation, and a moment later, the Abyss cut down two of the Windams with a crushing beam cannon barrage. The remaining Windams spread out again to shoot back, forcing the Chaos back from their formation behind its shield. The squadron condensed its fire on the Chaos, driving back, until the Abyss lunged up behind the Chaos to fire back and force the Windams behind their shields.

The _peshmerga_'s mobile suits charged from behind the two Gundams, opening fire and picking one of the Windams out of the sky— only to be thrown back with three of their number shot down as the Windams returned fire. Sting ground his teeth in frustration— this was why he hated it when he had other people to worry about on the battlefield.

"They're sticking tight to this formation," Sting growled. "Auel! Attack Pattern Nu!"

—

"These things had better not turn invisible on us," snarled Viveka as the Savior Gundam pitched down through the air, dodging the fire from two N Dagger Ns on the tarmac below.

"They won't because they're not alone," Athrun explained, even as the Infinite Justice deflected two blasts with its beam shield and lunged over the rest. "Mirage Colloid makes you invisible to everyone, including your allies."

The Justice came down with a crash, swinging its boomerang blade horizontally for a deathblow at the Dagger's waist— instead, the green mobile suit leapt into the air and fired an anchor down around the Justice's left arm, yanking it off its feet.

"That won't be enough— !" Athrun snapped, slicing the wire in two with a kick from the Justice's leg blade, and storming forward to ram the Dagger with its right shoulder. The green mobile suit went staggering back and fired a beam rifle blast directly into the Justice's beam shield to force it away and buy itself a moment of retreat.

"They're not made to fly," Athrun said, "so stay in the air and hit them from above!" The Justice somersaulted into the sky, showering the Dagger below with beam fire and forcing it back behind its own shield. One of the Daggers fired its piercer lock up towards the Justice— and an instant later, the Savior came barreling out of the sky to cut the wire in two, while the Justice slashed the piercer lock itself in half with its beam blade.

"I'm getting sick of this...!" Viveka snapped. "Athrun, get back! I'm releasing the King Cobras!"

The Justice pulled away with a volley of beam fire, as the Savior swept in for a second pass and planted a half-dozen massive King Cobra missiles into the ground near the N Daggers. Both machines staggered back before they were engulfed by a blaze of fire, as the Savior pulled back into the sky.

"Did that get them...?"

Athrun shook his head. "I still sense them...but they're retreating, I think," he started. He scanned the craters that were left, finding a charred mobile suit arm among the ruins. "I hope that's the last we see of them."

Viveka cast a worried glance over the battlefield. "_I_ hope Emily's doing okay," she said.

—

A cloud of sand went billowing up around the jet-black armor of the Gaia Gundam, as it took refuge behind its shield. Up ahead, a squad of Doppelhorn Windams were advancing, smoke curling from the barrels of their cannons and beam rifles held at the ready. But they were hardly scary anymore—

The Gaia lunged out of the smoke, beam saber held high, storming into their ranks and running through the lead Windam on her saber. The remaining Windams spread apart as their leader fell, but too late— Stella went pitching forward, ducking below the rearguard Windam's desperate shots and sliding in behind her beleaguered foe, sawing it in two.

Even as she turned her attention to the right flank Windam, it went down to a beam blast from the sky, and with a roar of engines, the Legend Gundam descended from above, pausing only to spear the remaining Windam through the cockpit on another expertly-aimed beam rifle blast.

"And what are you doing out here all by yourself?" chuckled Rau Le Creuset, as the Legend set down on the sand. "I humbly suggest that you stick closer to your allies, Miss Loussier."

Stella cast her eyes towards the next advancing squad of Windams and the booming sound of their guns. "Stella's okay," she said. "Rau should go back and protect the ship."

"The _Minerva_ is preparing to lift off," he answered. "And at any rate, it appears we have guests— "

The Gaia swapped its saber for its beam rifle, extending the scope and settling its shield into the sand. Stella narrowed her eyes through the scope as her foes came into view, opening fire again and pummeling one of the Windams into the dust.

The three Windams leapt apart in surprise and intensified their fire as their leader exploded. Rau fired back with a punishing beam cannon barrage, and Stella took up her shield and charged.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Fortress Aqrah**

The bridge doors of the _Minerva_ hissed open, and Meyrin Hawke leapt down into the captain's chair, donning her headset and ignoring the stinging wound on her cheek. Somebody out there wanted a fight, and the _Minerva_ could not back down from a challenge like that.

"Captain, what happened— ?" Abbey started, until Meyrin waved her off.

"Worry about it later. Burt, what's the situation out there?"

Burt paused an instant to consult his displays. "An _Archangel_-class battleship hovering about four kilometers east, but not doing anything, and a _Siegfried_-class that's trying to set up for an attack pass. The Chaos and Abyss are keeping it tied up and on evasive maneuvers."

"Keep it that way," Meyrin instructed. "Can we get airborne?"

"Not with all that repair scaffolding all over our hull," Malik answered.

Meyrin paused for a moment, reaching back into the mental archives of experience. "Okay then, Roxy, tell Sting and Auel to lure that plane into our line of fire. We'll take it down with one attack."

—

"What? Where did it go?"

The world shook as something unseen rammed into the Twilight Gundam from the side, throwing the machine and its pilot to the ground. Emily wheeled around, rolling her Gundam over to dodge another crashing blow, and tried to kick up into the air— but her Gundam's leg caught only air.

"Don't tell me that thing's Mirage Colloid still works!" she groaned, leaping her machine back to its feet, only for something to strike it in the face and send it staggering back on its heels. "I thought I hit it in the right spot...!"

Emily ground her teeth as the unseen N Dagger N landed another blow. Shinn had warned her about these Mirage Colloid-equipped foes— that if they disappeared, she had to rely on her senses and focus on the pulsing presence of human life. No Mirage Colloid could hide that from a Newtype's eye. She struggled to still her mind, waiting for the next attack.

Inside the invisible mobile suit, Sanders sneered. "I can't use the thrusters or the rifle," he grunted, "but that doesn't mean I can't beat you like this!" The N Dagger came swinging in, sword held back for a killing swipe—

Emily's eyes went wide in the Twilight's cockpit. "There you are!"

The Twilight slashed back with its beam saber, parrying the unseen foe's blade and cutting another battle scar over the Dagger's chest. With a shower of sparks, the Dagger flickered back into existence.

"She took out the emitter!" Sanders cried. "Impossible!" The Dagger fell to one knee, ducking a killing beam saber slash, and stabbed forward with the short katana in its left hand—

Faster than Sanders' eye could see, the Twilight seized the Dagger's left arm with its own free left hand, and with a shout from its pilot, whirled the Dagger over its head and slammed it to the ground on its back.

"And now she threw me?" roared Sanders. "You— !"

"_Gotcha!_" screamed Emily, raising her saber for a killing blow— only to see her death slash stopped by the Dagger's shield. "Even that— Aza, now!"

The desert-painted Dagger L vaulted into the air. "You're mine, ninja!" Aza yelled, leveling off her beam carbine—

The Dagger instead leapt backward, rolling over its shoulders and planting its feet on the Twilight's torso. As the black Gundam went staggering back under the blow, Sanders launched himself off the Twilight, roaring up towards the Dagger L with a scream— and with a shriek of twisted metal, he slashed off the Dagger's right arm with his katana.

"My arm— !" Aza started. "Damn you!"

The N Dagger whirled around, leveling off its own rifle. "And now to get rid of you— !"

And then the Dagger went flailing out of the air as a desert-camouflaged GOUF Ignited came rocketing out of nowhere, ramming the Dagger out of the sky with its spiked right shoulder and smashing the green mobile suit back into the ground.

Inside the Twilight, Emily rubbed her head in pain and looked up at the new mobile suit, spying the same golden crescent moon on its shoulder armor, as the wounded Dagger L landed heavily nearby. "Who is this...?"

"I believe introductions are in order," an imposing male voice filtered through her cockpit. "I am Captain Rajan al-Raqeeb. I believe you have already met my subordinate." Up above, the GOUF glanced over at Aza's crippled mobile suit. "Lance Corporal Khaliq, your mobile suit is no longer in any condition to fight. Return to the hangar."

"Y-Yes sir," answered Aza in defeat, as her Dagger turned and sprinted away.

The N Dagger slowly rose to its feet, leaning heavily on its katana as it brought itself up to one knee. "They even have a GOUF..." Sanders grunted. "Well played..."

"Miss Oldendorf, I am needed elsewhere. I will leave this Dagger to you," Rajan intoned.

"R-Right!" stammered Emily. The GOUF motioned to the two BABI mobile suits on its flanks, and they took off back into the battlefield. Emily turned her attention back to the N Dagger, watching her foe carefully and waiting for its next move.

—

"Motherfuckers think you can beat me?" screamed Auel as the Abyss Gundam hurtled through the air, twirling its lance on its fingertips and barreling past the desperate fire of an entire squad of Jet Windams. "You're gonna have to do better than that!"

The Abyss spiraled through the firepower, deflecting shots with its shoulder shells and slamming the solid blade of its lance into the first Windam's cockpit. Its compatriots spread out to open fire, but Auel easily jetted back, putting them all back on the defensive with a beam cannon volley.

"Sting! Now!"

The Chaos Gundam roared into the fray with a volley of beam rifle shots, blowing one of the Windams out of the sky and sending the remaining two scrambling for cover. The Abyss opened fire again, tearing down another— and as the last Windam pulled back behind its shield, the Chaos came storming into its face, kicking aside its shield and blasting it apart with a beam rifle blast through the cockpit.

"Now for that plane!" Sting growled. "Auel, cover me!"

The Abyss lined up for a punishing volley of beams as the Chaos charged, up towards the _Zurich_ as it drove forward through the sky. The carrier answered with a wave of beam fire and machinegun rounds, pummeling the Chaos's shield and grinding it back.

"Hey you two, word from the captain," Roxy's voice cut in. "Lure that thing into the _Minerva_'s line of fire and we'll light it up."

"Easier said than done!" Auel shot back, throwing the Abyss towards the earth to dodge another beam salvo.

"Yeah, and that's why I'm doing the saying," Roxy answered with a grin. "_Minerva_, out."

"We'll just have to lead it with our fire," Sting said. "Split up!"

The two Gundams rocketed apart and lined up for a fusillade that went streaking by the _Zurich_'s starboard side, forcing it to bank to port. The Chaos fired back with another beam rifle volley that forced the _Zurich_ to descend— and then the Abyss fired off another beam barrage that the _Zurich_ swerved to starboard, slowly corkscrewing towards the ground.

"Wrong way, pal!" snapped Sting, as the Chaos darted into the _Zurich_'s path with a beam rifle shot. The plane lurched to the side—

...and with a thunderous crash, the _Zurich_ snapped in two as the _Minerva_ down below fired its Tristans and Isolde into the ship's side, ripping it in half. The shards of the broken plane went streaking down towards the ground, and a roaring explosion filled the sky.

"Well," Auel said tiredly, as the Abyss rose up above the smoke, "that's always fun."

—

"Just my luck that I have to fight a freaking ninja," grumbled Shinn, as the Destiny shook under a punishing blow from the Nero Blitz's massive claws, barely blocked by the Destiny's left arm. "Way to overcompensate, Djibril!"

The Nero Blitz whirled over the Destiny's head, landing on its left hand and vaulting back into the air. Shinn took off after the black-armored Gundam with a furious anti-ship sword swipe, but the Nero Blitz fired its thrusters to execute a stunning butterfly kick in midair, pounding against the Destiny's arm and sending it staggering back towards the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" Shinn snapped. The Destiny followed up with a long-range cannon blast, but the Nero Blitz elegantly backflipped over the shot and landed with a crash, showering the Destiny with beam fire.

Inside the Nero Blitz, Misa glared over at the auxiliary screen as Sanders' grim masked face appeared. "Colonel, the _Zurich_ has gone down," he said. "Randall is reporting incoming MS squadrons."

The Nero Blitz swung its saber up to deflect the Destiny's sword stroke. "Are you telling me to retreat?" she asked quietly.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," answered Sanders. Misa bit back a curse.

The Nero Blitz broke away from the Destiny, somersaulting into the air and vanishing behind its Mirage Colloid. Shinn deployed his long cannon to follow, but the Nero Blitz was already bounding away, making its escape behind a cluster of hangars.

"Shinn," Athrun's voice cut in, "it looks like they're pulling back. Are you going to pursue?"

The Destiny shut down its sword. "Not today," he said, sighing heavily and struggling to melt the tension. "They'll be back."

—

**Fortress Aqrah, Aqrah District, Kurdistan**

With a shudder, the Twilight Gundam landed on the ground in front of the _Minerva_, where Aqrah's mobile suits and soldiers were busy securing the airfield. Inside the black Gundam, Emily scanned over the battlefield. A knot of soldiers caught her attention— she zoomed in on the image, and felt her stomach churn as a bearded officer threw a man in a bloodstained Alliance flight suit to the ground and shot him in the back of the head, to the cheers of the soldiers.

The familiar feeling went racing through her brain— a life gone, a candle snuffed out, a light darkened. It wasn't painful, but it simply felt so _wrong_ that it shot from her mind to her body as surely as a jolt of pain would burst in the opposite direction. And Emily hated it.

As she turned away while the soldiers hoisted their dead captive triumphantly into the air, she could not forget that death was part of her name now. "The Angel of Death." Where Shinn had a seemingly-endless supply of nicknames, now she had one too— an image, a symbol that could obscure who she really was behind her deeds on the battlefield. Aza had seen it— and clearly, Aza had thought that the woman called the Angel of Death would be a battle-hardened adult.

Of course, as the Angel of Death, that meant she would have to get used to a lot more of that horrible sensation.

She keyed open a channel to the _Minerva_. "This is Emily," she started. "Is it over?"

Roxy flashed back an encouraging grin. "The Archie to the east is heading south now, and the rest of them went up in smoke during the fight. You can come home now."

Emily turned her Gundam towards the _Minerva_. "That's what I waiting for."

—

**Phantom Island, Indian Ocean**

The sounds of the hangar at work were dull inside the observation room, where Crayt Markav stood with arms crossed, looking down into the sprawling hangar where Phantom Pain's army of mobile suits stood waiting for war. Two full regiments of Dark Windams, 288 mobile suits, with a battalion of Deep Forbiddens and Forbidden Vortexes at the ready, as well as her custom Euclid and a pair of Zamzazar mobile armors, all of it supported by the guns of Phantom Island itself. And added to that equation would be the firepower of the _Charlemagne— _how could the _Minerva_ stand against numbers like that? Indeed, they had arrayed against them the very armies of God.

Speaking thus, there were loose ends to tie up. Rau Le Creuset was a wildcard— Crayt would attend to that herself. And then for that little girl, Unit Zero-One— for that, there was another mobile suit in the hangar, tucked away behind the lines of Windams, but waiting for its moment all the same.

The Morrigan Gundam, built on the frame of the Eurasian Federation's signature Hyperion Gundam with a large and thruster-laden flight pack, was slumbering in the far corner of the hangar. Crayt knew well where it was from— the Eurasian Federation's premier mobile suit, designed to fight to a standstill ZAFT's legendary Freedom Gundam, and built to the exacting specifications of its secret champion, the fruit of Project Evolution, Unit Zero-One.

"'I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent;'" she intoned, "'according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, sayeth the Lord God.'"

"That's still creepy, Crayt," another voice spoke up. Crayt glanced over her shoulder, at the black-haired woman with glittering blue eyes behind her, clad in the black uniform of the Phantom Pain, crossing her arms in amusement. "I thought you had stopped the random scriptural quotes."

"Such insolence I hear from you, Lieutenant," Crayt chuckled back. 1st Lieutenant Monique du Prey allowed the Field Marshal an exaggerated salute.

"My humblest apologies, Madam Field Marshal," she drawled, with a melodramatic bow. "What's the impetus for this snippet of the word of God?"

Crayt gestured to the sleeping Morrigan. "That thing is named for a heathen goddess of war and death," she explained. "It was meant for Unit Zero-One of Project Evolution, designed to take on ZAFT's Freedom Gundam."

"Oh, you always give me the best toys," giggled Monique. "I'm just so spoiled, aren't I?"

"When the _Minerva_ walks into our trap, I leave it to you to engage the Twilight," Crayt continued. "Break her mind to pieces."

"Sounds like fun," answered Monique. "Does this call for another creepy quote from your King James?"

Crayt paused, reaching back into her vast repository of memorized scripture to pull out the right verse. "'And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them,'" came the reply. "'Thou shalt make no covenant with them nor show mercy unto them.'"

Monique flashed a wicked grin. "I can do that."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Fortress Aqrah, Aqrah District, Kurdistan**

The Infinite Justice was safe in its hangar, with the mechanics swarming over it like ants, and that meant it was time for a report.

Sitting in her office with a square bandage over her injured cheek, Meyrin found it odd that even with as loose as discipline was on the _Minerva— _trying to pry the bourbon from Roxy's hand while on the bridge had not ended well for anyone involved— Athrun Zala still carried over these last vestiges of the military he had grown up in.

_ You can take the soldier out of the army, I guess,_ Meyrin figured, _but you can't take army out of the soldier._ "You really don't need to keep filing reports," she said aloud. "It's not like there's anyone who wants to keep track."

"It's habit," Athrun answered with a shrug. "I believe that unit was the Night Tiger team, Lord Djibril's personal bodyguard unit."

Meyrin winced for a moment as her wound stung, malevolently reminding her of its presence. "That ninja woman we ran into would make sense, then," she said. She paused as Athrun seemed to shift uncomfortably— three years of fighting with him and trusting him to see the _Minerva_ safely through its many storms made her quite aware of the hidden signals that the Justice's pilot would emit. "What is it?"

"About Emily," he started, although Meyrin could tell there was far more lurking below the surface, "the next time we get the opportunity, I think we should stop by Lodonia Island."

Meyrin blinked. "Lodonia Island? With all those defenses— "

"I know it would be difficult," Athrun said, "but Sting and Auel suggested it to me. Emily has powers and skills that she should not have if Shinn was her first instructor in mobile suit combat. If she was instructed in MS combat in some kind of secret program, then Lodonia is the likeliest and most accessible option for getting answers."

Meyrin put a hand to her chin in thought— assuredly, he would have a plan for the attention this would be bound to attract. "It's been almost four years since the _Minerva_ visited Lodonia," she pointed out. "The Alliance has probably razed the place by now, or at least gotten rid of whatever of value was left."

"Then our other option is Althea Crater," Athrun replied. "Which is probably not going to happen."

"I have Roxy working her sources," answered Meyrin. "They can give us leads to start with. Until then, though, we need to reach Carpentaria first." She glanced disdainfully towards her white peaked cap, resting on the desk for its next use. "We'll have enough problems there to deal with anyway."

Athrun's eyes darkened. "At least _some_ of the ZAFT remnant is sympathetic to us," he offered. "I'll keep the MS team on standby just in case, though."

Meyrin smiled sadly. "I guess we can't expect everyone to understand us, huh?"

There was no smile back from Athrun. "No, we can't."

—

"I-I apologize for my earlier rude treatment of you, Miss Oldendorf!"

Standing on the tarmac with Shinn standing nearby, arms crossed, Emily could only blush and sputter in surprise as she watched Aza al-Khaliq bow deeply, respectfully, and rather embarrassingly before the Twilight's pilot. She glanced at Shinn, who could only shrug.

"It's okay," she started. "I mean, you didn't know— "

"I have no excuse!" Aza went on. "I was disrespectful to an ace pilot— "

"There are worse things you could have done," Shinn interrupted. Emily stuck her hand forward for a hesitant handshake.

"Is my subordinate harassing you still?" a man's voice interjected. Emily turned, and immediately looked up into the ragged, scarred face of the GOUF Ignited pilot that had saved Aza during the battle from that annoyingly resilient N Dagger N. "We meet in person. Captain Rajan al-Raqeeb." He gave a short bow, to which Emily answered with an awkward smile and wave. "I hope Corporal Khaliq has not been too much of a burden. She shows promise as a fighter, but has yet to learn her place." He cast a knowing glance towards Aza, who promptly straightened up to attention. "And Commander Asuka," he continued, turning towards Shinn. "My unit will be on the _Saladin_, which will accompany you to the sea. I look forward to fighting alongside you."

"It'll be fun," Shinn said with a courteous nod. Rajan answered with a casual salute and turned to head towards the hangars, with Aza trailing dejectedly behind him. "Your first fan," Shinn grunted. "You like it?"

"N-No," Emily started. Shinn smiled ruefully.

"Good. Get used to it."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Damascus**_**, al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

Major General Ibrahim Abdulmalik of the 6th Division, I Corps, 3rd Army was not a man given to sentimentality. Arcane notions like nationalism and honor were useful for motivating enlisted men that might otherwise spend their time chasing skirts and drinking, but the hawk-nosed man in the desert-camouflaged Earth Alliance uniform, known and feared as the Syrian Hammer, needed no such ideals to get up in the morning. He fought because that was his job— and if his vocation was war, he was going to do it well. His loyalty was to God, and God would expect nothing less.

Nonetheless, Abdulmalik could not help but feel a little pride at the army he had assembled. The _Hannibal_-class _Damascus_, supported on either flank by the smaller _Hood_-class land warships _Karbala_ and _Ramallah_, cruised forward through the burning sands of Iraq's punishing desert. Those who could make war here were cut from sterner stuff than most, and with the _Minerva_ projected to cruise right into striking distance, he was looking forward to that fight.

The door slid open, and Abdulmalik duly received the salutes of three young officers in similar desert uniforms. The handsome young man at the lead had not bothered to suppress his smile. "1st Lieutenant Xist Elwes reporting, sir. The Ground Windam test units are ready to go."

The Ground Windam, the Earth Alliance's answer to ZAFT's blitzkrieg-oriented DOM Trooper. The _Minerva_ would be hard-pressed to keep up with that. "Good work, lieutenant," answered a gruff Abdulmalik. "The Ground Windams will be crucial to our battle with the _Minerva_." He glanced back towards the burning sands. "Intel says that the Kurds are sending a ship as well. You may have to fight with the _peshmerga_."

"We've taken them before," Xist said with almost a chuckle. "And I'm looking forward to the _Minerva_ more, sir."

Abdulmalik allowed himself a thin smile. "We all are."

—__

__**Earth Alliance **_**Archangel**_**-class battleship **_**Witch's Hammer**_**, al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

"Ayatollah Nasir, I'm so glad you found the time to answer my message."

Misa Tsunomi stood tall on the bridge of the _Witch's_ _Hammer_, with Sanders and Randall looking on impassively at the white-bearded, turbaned man on the screen, sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge of a _Lesseps_-class battleship. He narrowed his steely brown eyes at the black-clad assassin.

"You'll forgive me for being skeptical," answered Ayatollah Karim al-Nasir. "Your ilk have never taken well to my people, and I have little reason to believe that that will change."

"Indeed," Misa said, sardonically crossing his arms. "Simply put, I am asking you to attack the _Minerva_ and a _peshmerga_ landship as they head south through your territory. The Husam al-Din has clashed before with the _peshmerga_, so this should not be out of the ordinary."

Nasir frowned behind his white beard. "And under what authority do you make such a request?"

Misa snapped her fingers. "This."

On the other ship, Misa could see Nasir's eyes widen in disbelief. "A satellite in space, armed with— ?"

"A nuclear warhead," Misa finished. "Aimed at the city of Karbala."

"The tomb— !" Nasir started, as his men looked on in horror. "You'd dare destroy the tomb of Imam Husayn!"

"And I will destroy the slums under your protection in Baghdad and other cities," Misa replied. "Your clinging to this relic of the past is out of place for our new world anyway. Should you do anything untoward, I will launch these missiles and annihilate your people. Should you obey my command, I will spare them. Do we have a deal?"

Nasir clenched his fists over the controls. "You are a fiend," he spat.

"That isn't the answer I'm looking for," Misa said, holding aloft a detonator. "Shall you take back that remark, or shall I incinerate half of Baghdad?"

"No!" Nasir cried, reaching forward— and Misa stayed her hand with a smirk, hidden behind her mask. "You want me to attack the _Minerva_ and the Kurdish ship...don't you?" he started.

"That was our wager, I believe," replied Misa. "Your services for your cities. That sounds fair enough to me. Do we have an accord?"

Nasir wavered for a moment, before painfully nodding. "You will swear to leave our cities untouched, and the people under my protection unharmed," he said. "You will give me your word?"

"That's all you've got," Misa responded with a shrug, tossing the detonator over to Sanders. Nasir could only grind his teeth in fury.

"You will rot in the pits of hell for this treachery," he snarled.

Misa smiled again behind her mask. "Hell is an invention I do not fear, Ayatollah Nasir," she chuckled. "Begin your attack when they enter range. I'll be watching."

—

To be continued...


	30. Phase 30: Sword of the Faith

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

Note: You know what would be really cool? If I had found a bunch of information about _SEED FRAME ASTRAYS_ out there on the seething mass of the Internet. Unfortunately, I didn't, so I'm gonna have to take a stab in the dark at Xist Elwes' personality, based purely off the impression I've gathered of him from his character art on the official site. But hey, a stab in the dark has a slight chance of being accurate, right? _Right?_

Also, I seem to have had a fan of my previous fanfics in Poland. So, if you're still there, hi Polish reader; and, sorry I don't know your language.

—

Phase 30 - Sword of the Faith

—

**March 16th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Fortress Aqrah, Aqrah District, Kurdistan**

A great cloud of dust rose up as the mighty _Minerva_ climbed into the air. The storied red wings spread under the hull, and with a roar from its engines, the winged warship began to move. Down below, with its own attendant cloak of dust and sand, the _Compton_-class land battleship _Saladin_, painted in mottled desert camouflage, rumbled forward as the two vessels arced towards the blistering desert. It only promised to grow hotter as the _Minerva_ pushed south, and so the wise stayed indoors, which was exactly why Emily was standing on the _Minerva_'s interior observation deck, staring at the empty desert landscape.

The interior observation deck was a popular site for the crew, but today Emily noted that the only other person there was Shinn Asuka. And that immediately brought an understated blush to her face—dashing, brilliant Shinn, the hero of the Resistance, the man who was best at protecting her, even as she fumbled across the battlefield and discovered what seemed to be a hidden second self just beneath the surface. It was like he had been there before—a comforting thought, since that meant she was not alone.

"Gerhardt von Oldendorf," Shinn started, blinking as he noticed Emily flinch at the sound of his name. "I don't think I need special powers to say that there must be something up with you two."

Emily stared out the window for a second. "I guess you would have issues with your father too if he sold you to a top-secret weapons program."

Shinn answered with a shrug. "The worst thing my dad ever did was take away my video games for a month." A pause. "I was hoping you could shed some light on him for me, but I guess you don't have too many memories of him?"

"Not too many that I'd like to remember," Emily murmured. Shinn nodded, leaning heavily against the railing.

"Viveka said that you had a habit of disappearing for a weekend or two because of illness," Shinn continued. "Do you remember that?"

Of course she did—whole weeks stood empty in the calendar of her past, devoid of memories. "They told me I was sick," she said quietly, "and I couldn't remember otherwise."

She glanced over at Shinn, seeing him leaning back in thought, staring pensively at the ceiling. Perhaps he understood what she was going through—of course he understood. But the velvety aura of deep thought surrounded him like a fog, veiling his emotions and leaving only silhouettes behind. Perhaps that was something all Newtypes who knew themselves and their powers well enough did—and made her wonder if she was an open book to everyone else with eyes to read.

"Well," Shinn went on, "your father is on the moon, last I heard. So hopefully you won't have to see him again."

Emily turned that thought over in her mind. The shadowy specter of Gerhardt von Oldendorf could haunt her dreams, but she could force herself to take solace in Shinn's words. Gerhardt was a bureaucrat—what would he have to do on a battlefield?

_Of course he'll find you,_ the pessimist in her spoke up. _You're his angel of death._

"I have a nickname now," she murmured. Shinn glanced over at her inquiringly. "The Angel of Death."

Shinn blinked again, taken aback. "The Angel of Death?" he echoed. "Well, that's ironic..."

Emily sighed. "It's not something I can get away from, is it?"

The traitor Asuka shrugged again. "I haven't."

She returned her thoughts to her hawk-nosed father. _His_ angel of death? Emily thought back to her new moniker, and found an answer to that pessimist's voice.

"Well then," she began, "if that's the case, then I won't be _his_ angel of death. I'll be _the_ Angel of Death." She glanced at Shinn again.

"Works for me," he answered with a shrug.

—

"For the last time," Yolant said with a tired sigh, "I'm not writing a script to make the Savior play the _Transformers_ theme song when it transforms."

Leaning against the gantry railing in front of the slumbering Savior Gundam, Viveka could only heave a sigh of her own and glance over at Athrun, arms crossed next to her. "You guys have no sense of humor about these things. I _know_ Auel is programming the Abyss to give other mobile suits the finger..."

"And he'll use it every chance he gets," Athrun added. "Will we be able to get any upgrades at Carpentaria?"

Yolant leaned back himself against the rail, rubbing his temple wearily. "I hope so," he answered. "Abes drew up some plans, and I guess there's a guy at Carpentaria who's got some new toys for us too." He glanced over at the two mismatched Gundam pilots. "Doctor Freeman or something like that."

"Oh, the guy who killed those Alliance soldiers with the crowbar," Athrun said with a nod. "I remember him."

"Yeah, well, getting to Carpentaria will be the fun part," Yolant sighed. "The _Charlemagne_ disappeared off Burt's scopes not too long ago. That isn't a good sign."

"We'll have to handle them at some point," Athrun pointed out. "If we can do it with the _Saladin_ around, maybe we'll stand a better chance. They can always overwhelm us with sheer numbers."

"We'll have to take care of the upgrades before your little jaunt to Lodonia, anyway," Yolant continued. "Breaking through those defenses wouldn't be easy by any stretch of the imagination."

Viveka cast a dubious glance towards Athrun. "Are you sure we'll find something about Emily's past with the Eurasians there?"

Athrun's eyes darkened pensively. "We'll find _something_ there," he answered.

—

_**Compton**_**-class land battleship **_**Saladin**_**, al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

The war room of the _Saladin_ was dimly lit, adorned only with a battle-torn red, white, and green flag of Kurdistan on the wall facing the door. Inside the main chair, Karda al-Imad sat back with a sigh, Rajan al-Raqeeb standing before him.

"Your objections are noted, captain," Karda said, rubbing his beard thoughtfully, "but we are not going to drag the _Minerva_ into a goose chase against the Husam al-Din. We set out to escort them to the Shatt al-Arab. If we have to fight Nasir along the way, we will; but if we don't, we won't."

Rajan stiffened almost imperceptibly. "You know what those bastards will do, commander," he protested. "You know they can't be trusted. They attacked Kirkuk only two months ago!"

"We are not here to drag the _Minerva_ into a local feud," Karda countered. "They were chased from the field by one of those in Novorossiysk and Chiao Xu will cut off our supply line if we were to force the _Minerva_ to destroy a fellow unit of the Resistance."

Rajan opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. "Very well, sir. But I still believe Nasir will attack us along the way. He and his people are not above such barbarity."

Karda silently received his salute and watched him leave, mulling over his words.

—

_**Lesseps**_**-class land battleship **_**al-Muntazar**_**, Ramadi, al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

So many options, and none of them were good.

Karim al-Nasir sat on the bridge of the _al-Muntazar_ as it glided forward over the sands of the mighty Syrian Desert. The threats of the Phantom Pain's shadowy assassin still rang loud in his ears—to see all of his people burned away in nuclear fire, to see the some of the greatest tombs and shrines of Islam swept off the map...and yet to avoid such a fate, he had no choice but to do the bidding of infidels.

"Sir," one of his officers said quietly at his side, "at the very least, we should evacuate the families in Baghdad. If the infidel doesn't keep her promise, our people..."

"I agree, Mahmoud," Nasir said with a nod. "We shall send them to the safe house in Al Habariyah."

"But the danger remains," another officer protested. "We are dealing with Misa Tsunomi. She's a black-hearted witch who will slaughter our children. What shall we do?"

And unfortunately, Nasir knew, he had a point as well. Tsunomi would hunt down and slaughter the caravan in the desert, of that he had no doubt; and if she discovered that the Baghdad slums under his militia's protection had been evacuated, she would likely turn her warheads on the tombs and shrines and the safe house.

"At either road's end, we face death," Nasir said, sitting back somberly. "We must protect our community at all costs, even if we must throw ourselves upon our swords in battle."

The officers nodded gravely.

"We will attack the _Minerva_ and the Kurds, as instructed," Nasir concluded, "and God willing, protect our people."

"Yes sir!" the officers cried.

Nasir sat back and prayed that he was right.

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Damascus**_**, al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

"Okay, Xist, what the hell are you doing?"

The question hung in the air of the _Damascus_' crew lounge for a moment, as Xist Elwes glanced up at the young woman in the desert-camouflaged Alliance uniform, standing over him with coffee in hand.

"Oh, hi Cherie," he said, gesturing down at the laptop on the table in front of him. "Just doing a little 'opposition research,' you might say."

Cherie bent down to peer at the screen, raking her brunette ponytail out of the way. "You have, like, twelve articles open on that 'Angel of Death' chick," she deadpanned.

"Yeah. Ooh, this one has pictures!" Xist eagerly clicked on one of them, bringing up the Phantom Pain file photo of a depressed-looking orange-haired girl with bright and fearful green eyes. "Hey, she's kinda cute."

"That's sick, Xist," Cherie said. "She can't _possibly_ be legal."

"N-Not like that!" sputtered Xist. "Like, in the way your little sister is cute! Jeez, what, you think I'm some kind of pervert?" He sat back and chose another article. "Besides, we're gonna have to fight her anyway when we go up against the _Minerva_, so we might as well know who it is we're dealing with. And Intel hasn't really told us much."

Cherie sighed heavily, sitting down next to him. "And you'd think they _would_, since there was that Phantom Pain unit that attacked them at Aqrah," she added, "but I guess they don't want to share."

"Yeah, they're kinda dicks over there," Xist agreed. "Oh hey, more pictures!"

—

**Heaven's Base, Iceland**

Lord Djibril was an excellent judge of character. It was not that he was particularly interested in the a person's details of character—rather, that his station in life demanded that he be able to pick apart someone's person and judge how they could be used, how they could be dangerous, what they were after, what they feared.

Of course, given his line of work, this put him in contact with people who were truly unsavory. It was not that they were outwardly so disgusting—indeed, to a man, they worked hard to cultivate an image of refinement and high culture. Instead, it was under the glossy, finely-polished surface that the ugliness was waiting.

That, it appeared, was the case with Prime Minister Bryan Manuel of the South African Union.

Outwardly, he was refined, dapper, elegant, and intelligent—but inwardly, he was a fairly repulsive relic of the past. Clearly he had taken the politics of Blue Cosmos a little too far, applying Djibril's contempt for Coordinators as flaunting the natural order to race relations. And it was almost stomach-turning to listen to him expound on his theory that the Africans who inhabited the overwhelming majority of his country were genetically predisposed to their impoverished and miserable fate.

Rubbish, of course, and all of it, because those at the bottom of the social ladder were placed there for their own failures. But Lord Djibril was not here to discuss politics and philosophy and race with this stunted little homunculus—he had more pressing concerns.

"Prime Minister Manuel," Djibril said warily, reclining back in his office chair. "Before we finish our business here, I have a request to make of you, as the President of the Earth Alliance."

Manuel seemed to perk up in his seat. "Of course."

Djibril tapped a side button on the desk, and his office's main screen flickered to life with a sprawling map of the Persian Gulf. "Field Marshal Markav is organizing an assault on the _Minerva_ in the Strait of Hormuz. Over two hundred mobile suits will be involved. However, we have taken our chances with the _Minerva_ before, and between eight mobile suits, two hundred works out only to twenty-five each." He gave a wicked smile. "And I'm sure you understand that we would like to be as overwhelming as possible."

"Shall you be requiring a fleet from the South African Union, then?" asked Manuel.

"The 6th Fleet shall be sufficient," Djibril said airily. "Twenty ships and 160 mobile suits should prove overwhelming enough." He fixed Manuel with a dubious gaze. "Provided the 6th Fleet meets expectations."

"L-Lord Djibril," Manuel started, "the 18th Fleet was ill-prepared in that battle at Socotra, and that was back in CE 73, when ZAFT was—"

"Just dispatch that fleet, Mr. Prime Minister," Djibril interrupted, "and we can finally rid ourselves of the _Minerva_."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

Meyrin had never realized it before, but with miles and miles of sand dunes stretched before her, she finally understood—the desert was really freaking boring.

It was these moments, when the _Minerva_ was plowing forward through empty landscape and there was no fighting to be done and no orders to give, when only the rumble of the _Minerva_'s mighty engines could be heard, that Meyrin hated most—because these were the moments of introspection. These were the moments she could look up at the darkened auxiliary screen and see in it her dimmed reflection, swathed in the captain's coat and topped with Talia's white peaked cap. Surrounded by Talia's crew, sitting in Talia's chair, these were the moments when she had to face that fact.

But what kind of captain doubted herself? Talia Gladys had been but the first captain of the _Minerva_, and with every port the storied vessel dropped anchor in, the news would spread that a nineteen-year-old girl with pretty blue eyes was in command of the warship that made soldiers fall to their knees and pray. Surely her accomplishments on the battlefield could attest to her stewardship of this vessel and that which it symbolized—after all, it was under her hand that the _Minerva_ had grown so fearsome that the Alliance sank untold sums of treasure and toil into the construction of that behemoth _Charlemagne_. A single unit that could spur the forging of a weapon that mighty was formidable indeed.

Of course, that was all the work of the Destiny Gundam. To be sure, the other pilots had their own accolades—if the memories of that uncomfortably _intimate_ stop in Havana were any indication, Athrun had his fair share of fans with remarkably few inhibitions—but it was undeniably the glittering Wings of Light that made the _Minerva_ so fearsome. So Meyrin found herself back where she started, with the dimmed reflection of the little girl playing captain looking down on her.

Well, that could be countered easily enough. Meyrin Hawke did not need to hear the news channels concocting new nicknames and breathlessly relating her exploits to their viewers. Once this war was done, the captain's coat and hat would return to the closet from whence they came, and Meyrin Hawke would let this chair sit empty, as it should have when its first captain died.

But that was later, and not yet. Right now, there were duties to be fulfilled, and the dim reflection of the little girl playing captain would just have to wait.

—

"That thing isn't scary," said Stella Loussier, crossing her arms resolutely and staring crossly at the screen before her.

Next to her, Athrun and Viveka could only glance dubiously at each other. The screen of the _Minerva_'s computer room was flickering with images of a demonstration video the Earth Alliance Army had released to the press of its formidable new Ground Windam, undergoing trials in the punishing Kalahari Desert of Africa. Of course, an Alliance propaganda video would naturally overestimate a given unit's capabilities, and there was little reason to take the specs the Alliance had released alongside this video at face value, but video was much more difficult to fake. Against a spread of targets that tried to simulate actual combat conditions, the three orange-painted Ground Windam units performed well. They skated along the burning sands like ZAFT's DOM Trooper, expertly whirling around their slower foes and shredding them to pieces.

Not that Stella found that scary, of course.

"I notice they didn't put it up against a BuCUE or something," Viveka pointed out. "But hell, we can all fly, what do we care?"

"If they can show that thing to the press, they must be already in the process of deploying it," Athrun answered. "Which means we might have to deal with it on the way to Carpentaria."

"Stella could beat that thing," asserted Stella. "Stella's not scared."

"You're never scared," Viveka sighed, leaning wearily against the table.

Stella nodded enthusiastically. "'cuz Shinn is always here," she added. "Stella doesn't have to be scared...'cuz Shinn will protect her."

At that, Viveka could only offer a cheeky smirk. "Must be nice," she chuckled, pausing to elbow Athrun in the ribs. "How come you can't be more swashbuckling and sexy, hero-boy?"

"For starters, I'm not crazy," came Athrun's seamless reply. "Now let's get back to work."

—

It was becoming very annoying, Rau mused as he sat back comfortably in the chair of his room, to be held at gunpoint by his allies more often than his enemies.

The man holding the gun this time was Shinn Asuka, and the look in his blood-red eyes bespoke far more than just a desire to show off his shiny new Glock 25. And so, with a sigh, Rau loudly closed the Legend's sprawling manual and turned to face the crimson-eyed intruder.

"If you really want to get my attention, Shinn, you don't need to go pointing guns at me," he chuckled. "You might put an eye out or something."

"I prefer having something on hand with which to kill you should you get a little _too_ uppity," shot back Shinn. "I have questions, and I'm willing to bet your life that you have answers."

Rau arched an eyebrow behind his mask—so after three years, Shinn had finally learned that the tongue could be as sharp as the sword. "And how, pray tell, would you get those answers from me if my life is the wager?"

"That's the fun part," Shinn answered, no trace of fun evident in his face. "Now let's get to the point, shall we?"

Rau shrugged airily. "And how might I be of assistance, Mr. Asuka?"

The question was hardly out of Shinn's mouth before Rau knew what it was. "What do you know about Emily that the rest of us don't?"

Rau grinned back like a wolf. "Nothing that she doesn't know, I assure you—"

Shinn interrupted him with a blow to the head with the pistol's barrel. Rau glared up in annoyance at him, but merely smoothed out his hair and rubbed the pain away. Pesky little brat, that would be bruising soon—

"I'm not in the mood for your bullshit," snarled Shinn. "Talk."

Rau merely sighed—obviously Shinn would not be stonewalled, and it did appear he could be temporarily defused with some half-truths. "Frankly, Mr. Asuka, your little girlfriend is as much of an enigma to me as she is to you. My sources have little more than what you know of her already—that she was some manner of experiment that has obviously gone awry, that her powers earned her special scrutiny and training by the military. If I were to chance some speculation, I would guess that her training regimen was combined with Extended technology to submerge all those soldierly skills and hide her in plain sight as a bureaucrat's daughter." He threw in another shrug. "Not much more than you know, so there was no need to hit me."

"There's _always_ a need to hit you," Shinn fired back. "What if I don't believe you?"

"Well, _you_ are the one with the gun here," Rau said. Technically, of course, Shinn did not _know_ these things that Rau was withholding, but it was nothing that he could not figure out on his own. "And I'm afraid that's all I can do for you, Mr. Asuka."

Rau could see in Shinn's eyes the argument over whether or not to stay and spray the masked man's brains across the wall, but the charitable—or foolish—angel won and Shinn stalked away, his mind a furious tornado of violent thoughts.

Rau, for his part, simply sat back and smiled. The best battles were the ones won without firing a shot.

—

Emily von Oldendorf had seen many things that had left her speechless, but the sight before her had stolen her words for all the wrong reasons. Standing tall and proud, with the gantry lowered to accommodate motion, the Abyss Gundam had its arm lifted, with its middle digit raised in a most conspicuous salute.

"_Yes!_" came Auel's triumphant cry from inside the cockpit. "It works!"

Standing next to Emily on the gantry, Sting could only bury his face in the palm of his hand. "Ah yes, the mighty flipping of the bird. Truly a combat necessity."

"Hey, fuck you, Sting!" Auel shouted, leaping out of the cockpit. "This isn't the fucking Tomb of the Unknown or something! I can have some fun!" He pointed vindictively at Emily. "Emily, you're impressed, right?"

Emily stared back up at the Abyss's outstretched arm for a moment—truly a stupendous sight, to see something as imposing as a mobile suit acting so childishly. "It's, um, hard to find words," she offered.

"_Ha!_" roared Auel, pointing again at Sting. "See?"

"Yeah, well, it's hard to find words while you're watching an auto accident too," Sting shot back.

"You're just jealous!" fired back Auel. "I bet Emily wants this script! Right?"

"N-Not really," Emily answered, to a crestfallen Auel. "I'd, um, rather not provoke my enemies if I don't have to—"

"Now come on!" Auel wailed. "This isn't provoking them! It's stating your superiority in clear and undeniable terms!" He gestured up towards the Abyss's darkened eyes. "I mean, it's one thing to have a Gundam flying towards you with its guns all warmed up and murder in its eyes; but it's another thing entirely to see that Gundam flying towards you _and it's giving you the finger!_ That's, like, sublime! It's how you know that you're truly and totally fucked!"

Emily considered that image for a moment. "I think I'd rather let my reputation do that," she answered.

"Besides, I think we're all a little more concerned with not getting killed in combat than making obscene gestures during combat," Sting added.

"Well that's 'cuz you suck," Auel concluded, crossing his arms defiantly. "Anyways, just you wait. I have way more scripts planned than just this one. Like that pelvic thrust one—"

"Oh _hell_ no," Sting groaned. "You are _not_ programming the Abyss to do _pelvic thrusts_."

"It's my Gundam!" replied Auel.

"Knowing you, you'll start humping fallen MS and that's just _wrong,_" Sting continued. "You freak."

Emily merely sighed as the argument began anew and turned to slip away.

—

_**Compton**_**-class land battleship **_**Saladin**_**, al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

"If all goes to plan," reported Tekman as Karda stepped onto the _Saladin_'s bridge, "we should reach the Shatt al-Arab in thirty-six hours."

"If all goes to plan," repeated Karda, settling into the captain's chair. "And if we have no unexpected company along the way. The Husam al-Din has reportedly been scurrying around in those slums of theirs. I hope that doesn't mean they're looking for a fight."

Tekman shifted uncomfortably. "Well, if they are," he said, "surely no less than the _Minerva_ could help us defeat them."

"The _Minerva_ isn't here for our local disputes," Karda answered. "We will have much to do against the Alliance here anyway. I am anxious of the whereabouts of that large warship that was pursuing the _Minerva_ before it arrived in Aqrah."

"That thing peeled off their trail in Turkey somewhere," reported Tekman, "but beyond that, we can't say. We have more pressing matters here to attend to anyway. A recon drone reported that there's a caravan moving through the desert from Baghdad—it might belong to Nasir."

Karda's eyes darkened. "It had better not," he said. "Abdulmalik is on his way too. We have no time for this." He settled back into the chair. "I suppose either way, though, we can expect much from the _Minerva_ and their little Angel of Death."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Archangel **_**-class battleship **_**Witch's Hammer,**_** al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

One dot, moving west from Baghdad, across the desert—moving into the path of two dots, moving south from Aqrah; and approaching three dots, moving east from Syria...it all meant things were going as planned.

"It looks like Nasir took our instructions to heart," the sensor officer reported, as Misa stood on the bridge with arms crossed, watching the radar screen intently. "A heat signature matching that of a ZAFT _Lesseps_-class is moving directly into the _Minerva_'s course, and Abdulmalik's forces are moving in as well."

"Shall we join the attack, colonel?" asked Randall from the captain's chair.

Misa studied the map for a moment. "Lord Djibril ordered only a test of the _Minerva_'s strength," she answered, "and our mobile suits are not yet back at full strength. So we will wait. Pull the ship back for observation, and we will see whether our little soldiers are up to the task we have given them."

Sanders stepped up next to her, fixing his dull dark eyes on her. "That girl in the Twilight is no ordinary Natural, colonel," he said. "She fought too well. She was able to read my moves, even when I had the Mirage Colloid active. But she has only been with the _Minerva_ for a month at most, and can't have learned this all from the Destiny's pilot."

"Djibril told me that there was something unique about this little angel," answered Misa. "We will have much to report." She glanced over at the captain's chair. "Randall, get me a link to Satellite XK7, and order them to exchange the nuclear warheads for reentry warheads. Target that caravan in the desert." She turned back towards the map, her eyes cold. "The Phantom Pain leaves no witnesses."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

"Hey look, Emily's in the news again!" laughed Roxy, as she brought up an article on the auxiliary screen. "'Angel of Death kills 250 in nighttime raid.'"

In the captain's chair, Meyrin wrinkled her nose. "She didn't do that..."

"Yeah, well, they report, you decide," scoffed Roxy.

"Well, it's comforting to know that we can make people soil themselves," Burt spoke up. He paused as he glanced down at his display for a moment. "Captain, I've got something on infrared. A heat signature of a _Lesseps_-class landship, coming at us at flank speed."

Meyrin glanced up warily at the main screen as Burt dutifully magnified the view, and found indeed a _Lesseps_ ship streaming through the desert sands, its deck loaded with mobile suit and helicopters, the sand around it swarming with tanks and armored vehicles.

"That thing's on an attack bearing," Abbey started. "What the hell is this? Captain—"

The auxiliary screen flickered to life, showing Karda's craggy face, his brow furrowed. "Captain Hawke, that's the landship belonging to the Husam al-Din," he warned. "They mean to attack, of that we have no doubt."

"I thought they were a Resistance unit," Meyrin started.

"That flag appears to mean nothing to them today."

_With friends like these..._ she groaned inwardly. "_Minerva_, Condition Red! Prepare the mobile suits for battle!"

—

To be continued...


	31. Phase 31: Blowback

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 31 - Blowback

—

**March 16th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Al-Anbar Province, Iraq**

"The best part of being in the Resistance is having to fight everybody _else_ who's in the Resistance!" screamed Auel, as the _Minerva_'s cadre of pilots raced for their machines. At the Twilight's cockpit hatch, Emily found Matt Abes shouting orders at a handful of other mechanics, with the whole hangar in a frenzy as the Gundams began to come to life.

"Are we really being attacked by another Resistance unit?" she asked, even as she threw herself into her Gundam's cockpit and strapped herself in.

"Yeah, we aren't real good with that whole 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' idea," Abes answered. "Right now we have no extra weapons, but during the battle we can prepare a Cattus rifle for you or something. But we'll have to launch it from the centerline catapult, so you'd have to catch it in midair."

"I should be fine with this," Emily replied. "I'm going."

Abes ran back, and the gantry slid out of the Twilight's path. Even as she guided her Gundam to the portside catapult, she could see the dim shapes of her foes—a desperate collection of mobile suits, armored vehicles, and helicopters.

"Okay, kids," started Roxy, as the Twilight shuddered and dropped into the catapult, "we've got this _Lesseps_-class and all those choppers and shit directly ahead of us, and three Alliance landships at 4 o'clock. Sound like fun? Of course it does. Twilight, you're clear for launch."

Emily steeled herself. "Emily von Oldendorf, Twilight; _launching!_"

—

_**Lesseps**_**-class battleship **_**al-Muntazar**_

"Sir," the captain of the _al-Muntazar_ began nervously as he leaned over Nasir's shoulder, "that incoming Alliance unit is carrying Abdulmalik with it. If he should turn on us—"

"Then we will be required to make a speedy retreat," Nasir finished. "Send that out to all units, and keep our smokescreens ready."

Of course, even as the captain set to work, Nasir knew in his heart that such orders would be meaningless. They were up against the _Minerva_, one of the strongest units of the Resistance; and if they managed to survive, they would then find themselves in the teeth of Abdulmalik and his troops. But men could not fear death, and the alternative—annihilation by nuclear fire from the Night Tiger—was even worse.

So, as the _al-Muntazar_ ground into battle, Nasir resigned himself to fate.

—

Inside the Destiny Gundam's cockpit, Shinn Asuka glanced back at the troops behind him—a motley array of desert-camouflaged mobile suits, with Rajan al-Raqeeb's GOUF Ignited at their head. And then he looked before him, at the Husam al-Din's own mobile suits and helicopters. Hardly comparable to the power of the Phantom Pain, but still a threat…and to think this was what was supposed to be on their side…

"These butchers attacked Kirkuk not long ago," snarled Rajan, as his GOUF fell into formation next to the Destiny. "With us as His sword, God will deliver justice!"

Shinn idly wondered whose side God was actually on. "If we deal with those mobile suits first of all, then they'll be helpless with just helicopters." The Destiny's eyes flashed ominously. "I'll attack the center of their formation and break them up; you take down the rest."

"Understood," answered Rajan. "Take heart, men! The Wings of Light are on our side!"

Shinn cringed at the thought and charged forward, switching to his anti-ship sword. The mobile suits and helicopters jerked back, opening fire—only to watch in disbelief as the Destiny's beam wings flashed to life and an army of afterimages filled the sky. Shinn plunged through the barrage to smash a 105 Dagger out of the sky with his sword—and even as he did, he slammed his left-hand palm cannon down into the DINN at its side, blowing it apart.

The Husam al-Din's mobile suits darted apart as the Destiny tore into the front of their formation. A squadron of mobile suits jetted around the Destiny, aiming for its back—but Shinn whirled around to pick off two of their number with his long-range cannon, before taking off and painting the sky with afterimages again.

And a moment later, the GOUF Ignited was there along with the other _peshmerga_ mobile suits, opening fire on the Husam al-Din's broken formation. Rajan stormed forward and chopped a DINN in two with his sword.

"All units, flank the enemy! Force them to engage the Destiny in the center!" he cried, even as the enemy helicopters showered him with missiles.

The Destiny somersaulted through the sky, coming to a stop between a pair of beleaguered BABIs and whirling around to slice them both in two with its sword. And even as they exploded, Shinn whipped around again to slice a helicopter in two—and then turned again, picking off another 105 Dagger with its beam cannon.

"Once we've destroyed their aerial forces, this battle is ours," Shinn grunted. The Destiny spiraled away from a torrent of firepower and charged again.

—

Sailing into battle, Emily found herself woefully conscious of the nine lives pulsing behind her. Aza was leading two squads of camouflaged BABIs and Jet Dagger Ls, behind the Twilight and in perfect formation. This, Emily mused ruefully, would be the first time she'd have to hand out orders—and it was not an experience she was looking forward to.

"Miss Oldendorf," Aza started nervously, "if you would rather have us take up the front position—"

"I can take care of myself," Emily cut her off. "You just keep yourself and your troops alive." She glanced up ahead, noticing three incoming enemies—but only three…

"Commander Oldendorf, three enemies incoming from one o'clock. Ground units...but they're moving so fast—"

Only Emily's instinct kicked in. "Watch out!" she cried, jetting the Twilight into the sky. Aza and most of the _peshmerga_ mobile suits broke formation, but not before a beam blast came lancing from the desert and plowed through the cockpit of one of the Jet Daggers.

"Mervan!" Aza cried, as the stricken Dagger exploded. "They're already attacking!"

"Split up and keep moving!" Emily shouted, scanning the shifting sands for their attackers. Down below were three Windams, but with huge attachments on their legs; two of them bore black and desert-brown paint schemes, one toted a bazooka, but the one at their head was a brilliant crimson with an emblem on its left shoulder. "They're hovering over the sands...?"

In the cockpit of his Ground Windam, Xist Elwes could not help but grin. "Cherie, Roberto, split up and attack from both sides! We'll force them down to our level!"

The three Ground Windams rocketed apart, filling the sky with beam fire and bazooka shells. Emily ground her teeth as instinct guided her hands, sending the Twilight dancing through a barrage of beam rifle blasts.

"Aza, pull back and shoot from the sky! I'll go in myself!" she shouted; before Aza could object, she sent the Twilight into a dizzying plunge, pulling up over the sands and squeezing off a volley of beam shots towards a charging Windam. Instinct screamed again, and she whirled around to deploy her left-hand beam shield—

The red Ground Windam was there, beam saber slammed against the Twilight's beam shield, with Xist in the cockpit, laughing with glee. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Angel of Death!" he cackled. "I'm looking forward to this!"

The Ground Windam surged forward, swinging back with its saber; the Twilight somersaulted over its head, whipping around and switching to its own beam saber to swing at the Windam's exposed waist. Xist rocketed back, and before Emily knew what hit her, the Ground Windam pummeled her with a pair of rocket-propelled grenades launched from its hips.

"Commander, these things are too fast!" one of the _peshmerga_ pilots screamed. "I can't get—" His voice disappeared in a burst of static, and Emily snapped her gaze up to see one of the BABIs exploding.

"I can't even win at _Battleship_ and they put me in charge of people on a battlefield," Emily groaned, even as she ducked under one of Xist's furious beam saber swipes and backflipped over another. "But if you can't fly...!"

The Twilight vaulted into the air, dodging a barrage of beam rifle blasts—and a second later, another rifle blast shot by her, blowing away a GUAIZ R mounted on a Guul unit.

"We've lost Ezde too!" Aza cried, as her Jet Dagger took refuge behind its shield, under a hail of beam blasts. "Commander Oldendorf—!"

Inside his Ground Windam, Xist grinned wildly. "Cherie, Roberto, back me up and we'll take down the Twilight! Those other ones are just small fries!"

The three Ground Windams came streaking forward. Aza's troops went charging down towards the sands, showering the three Alliance units with firepower—only to see them all dance through the blasts, and the red Windam effortlessly shot down another Dagger L.

"They're just going to get slaughtered," Emily groaned. "Aza, stay back! I'll handle them!"

"On your own?" sputtered Aza; Emily tried to shoot back a reassuring grin.

"Have you forgotten? I'm the Angel of Death!"

The Twilight landed with a crash, beam saber drawn, as the three Ground Windams charged.

—

"Thirty mobile suits, buttressed by a battalion of armored vehicles and helicopters," Rau intoned as the Legend Gundam set down on the burning desert sands, with the Abyss on its right and the Chaos and Gaia on its left. "This looks like nothing we can't handle."

Auel sneered in the Abyss's cockpit. "Then let's handle it!"

The Chaos and Gaia charged, as the Abyss and Legend spread out and activated their beam cannons. The Husam al-Din's mobile suit formation split apart; an instant later, the Gaia transformed in midair in a flash, landing in quadruped mode and storming forward towards the force's ground mobile suits.

Auel opened fire with a punishing beam cannon barrage, taking down a Strike Dagger and a GINN in one blow, and forcing the rest back; Sting rocketed into their ranks, whirling around to fire ruthlessly into the backs of the slower mobile suits and picking down a GINN OCHER, a CGUE, and another GINN before they could turn to engage him. A helicopter swung in behind him—an instant later, Stella's Gaia Gundam pounded it out of the sky with a beam cannon barrage and lunged towards a LaGOWE, cutting it in two with its wing blades.

The Legend Gundam effortlessly picked off armored vehicles one by one, as the mobile suits struggled to contain the Chaos and Gaia. Sting smirked as he whipped around to take down a CGUE; an instant later, the Gaia vaulted into the air, transforming again and shooting down a BuCUE and a pair of GAZuOOTs.

"Auel, Rau, take out the ZuOOTs!" Sting barked, ducking beneath a Strike Dagger's clumsy beam saber swipe and shooting it through the cockpit. "And as for the rest...!"

The Chaos leapt into the air; an instant later, flashing eyes illuminating the sky, the Chaos's gunbarrels lifted off and darted down below to pummel the mobile suits with beam fire, destroying two ZuOOTs and a GINN.

"They're afraid," grunted Stella, as the Gaia landed on one knee and ducked a BuCUE's furious saber swipe before impaling it on her own saber.

"As well they should be!" Rau cackled.

—

Beam rifle shots and missiles filled the sky as Athrun Zala guided his Infinite Justice Gundam towards a dozen desperate Jet Windams, eyes narrowed. Such fear, such desperation, such hatred, and yet—

The Infinite Justice lunged skyward—and an instant later, a wave of beams from the Savior Gundam came plowing through, blowing two of the Jet Windams out of the sky. And Athrun followed up with a scream, plunging down with beam blades active to tear another two in half. The Windams backed away; Athrun instead seized one of them with his Grapple Stinger anchor, swinging it towards its comrades, and then snapped up his beam rifle to spear it on a beam shot and hit a second through the first's smoking carcass.

"Hey, leave some for me," Viveka laughed, moments before the Savior came crashing down with another plasma cannon volley.

The Justice pulled back, eyes flashing, as the Windams clawed for distance. "They only sent a squadron of Jet Windams, but the ships are still hanging back..." Athrun muttered. "What is Abdulmalik planning...?"

"I doubt he was expecting that other militia," Viveka put in. An alarm wailed inside the Savior— "Move it!"

The two Gundams jetted apart as the Windam squadron returned with a vengeance, beam rifles blazing. Viveka cast a grin over towards Athrun.

"Hey hero-boy, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Athrun bit back a retort about being called "hero-boy." "If you're thinking of Attack Pattern Omicron, then yes. Go!"

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Damascus**_

Puffs of fire on the horizon, clouds of smoke in the air...these were the images of battle. But, standing on the bridge of the _Damascus_, Ibrahim Abdulmalik noted with some concern that several of those puffs of fire and clouds of smoke had formerly been his troops.

"General," the _Damascus_'s captain began anxiously, "shouldn't we move the ships in to engage the _Minerva_?"

"They would have the advantage as an aerial unit," Abdulmalik answered. "For now, we will simply allow the mobile suits to engage them and gather some information. The _Charlemagne_ is lying in wait for them at the Shatt al-Arab—we will force them there and then join the Phantom Pain in a final pincer movement."

The captain seemed satisfied with that, but Abdulmalik most certainly was not. He had not anticipated this militia's attack, and found it odd that one Resistance unit would attack another, especially one with the profile of the _Minerva_.

On the other hand, at least the _Minerva_ was doing him the courtesy of eradicating these enemies for him. And so he stood back to watch.

—

The Twilight Gundam rattled as it landed on the burning sands, beam saber in hand, with the three Ground Windams circling it like sharks. Already they had shot down another of Aza's mobile suits, leaving only a Jet Dagger L and a BABI to accompany Aza's machine in the air—and now they were all focused on Emily, attacking in rapid succession.

Aza and her two companions came storming in again from behind the Twilight, beam rifles blazing; the Ground Windams split apart, with two taking cover behind their shields as the red one charged forward, beam saber blazing, and carved the BABI in two.

"Aza, I told you to stay back!" Emily cried and lunged forward to swing at the red Windam, grimacing as it ducked beneath her swipe and pounded her in the back again with another grenade. "They're too fast—!"

"We're not getting anywhere!" Aza groaned. "Tinok, move in—"

Before she could finish, one of the Ground Windams lunged skyward, driving its beam saber through Tinok's cockpit and tearing the mobile suit in two. Aza darted backward to avoid the Windam's second sweep as it returned to the ground.

Inside the crimson Windam, Xist grinned triumphantly. "Alright! Just that one Dagger and Miss Angel of Death to go! Cherie, you deal with the Dagger; Roberto, come with me!"

Xist and Roberto went charging towards the Twilight, beam sabers drawn; Emily tensed as they came streaking in, swinging her saber horizontally to block their downward hacks. Xist's Windam whirled around her, aiming for the Twilight's waist; Emily swung her saber back to deflect the blow, blocking Roberto's attack with her beam shield, and vaulted into the air between the two. Xist followed up with a beam rifle barrage that forced the Twilight on the defensive, and Roberto's Windam charged in from the rear, leveling off its own rifle—

"There!" Emily cried; the Twilight abruptly slammed on the brakes, using its beam shield to slap Xist's rifle blasts aside, and landed in the sand with a crash. As the sands rose around the black-armored Gundam, Emily charged forward and smashed her palm cannon through Roberto's cockpit, wincing at the feeling of death before her.

"_Roberto!_" Xist cried; the red Windam came charging in from behind, but Emily wheeled around to shove the ruined Windam into Xist's path and force him back. She backed away to catch her breath, glancing down at the Twilight's left hand—and cringing as she noted that it was covered in blood.

The red Ground Windam came blasting through the smoke, beam saber blazing. "_Now you've pissed me off!_" Xist roared, his sportsman's smile gone, and stabbed forward with his saber. Emily deflected the blow; the Ground Windam kept going, driving its foe through the sand, engines screaming.

"This won't last forever—!" Emily snapped back; the Twilight slammed its foot into the Ground Windam's right knee, knocking it to the ground. Emily brought up her saber for a final blow, but the Windam sprung back to its feet to deflect the blow, and the Twilight vaulted into the air to avoid a third grenade salvo.

Emily glanced over at Aza—still in the fight. She returned her gaze to the Ground Windam, dodging its beam rifle blasts and waiting for an opening.

—

Another gutted Windam went down in flames as the Infinite Justice retracted its Grapple Stinger, daring the five remaining Windams to attack again. They raised their rifles—an instant later, a beam blast from below tore one of them apart, and before they could react, the Savior Gundam vaulted into their ranks to tear two more in half with its beam saber, and took off again before the last two could attack.

"So should I take care of the leftovers, or will that solemn duty fall to you?" asked Viveka, as the Savior darted around their fire. Athrun narrowed his eyes at the last two Windams, clawing for distance.

Abruptly, the Justice blasted forward with a roar from its engines, whirling around the Windams' desperate fire. With a flash of exhaust, the Justice somersaulted over the first Windam, wheeling around to saw it in two at the waist with its beam blade; and then, in the same motion, swung around to tear the second in half as well with a beam blade kick.

And, as the Windams exploded, the Justice rose from the smoke and glanced back at the Savior.

"Well, that takes care of that," Athrun said with a shrug. "How's the rest of the battle going?"

"Looks like Shinn still hasn't broken through to that _Lesseps_-class yet," answered Viveka. "Rau and the others haven't finished off the ground troops yet, either."

Athrun turned his eyes towards the _al-Muntazar_. "Then let's go help Shinn."

"What's your beef with Rau, anyway?" Viveka asked. "It doesn't seem to be too healthy."

Athrun's eyes darkened as he glanced back at Viveka. "I'll tell you later," he replied, and took off.

—

A burst of fire tore through the air, sending another DINN spiraling to earth in smoldering pieces. Inside the Destiny, Shinn drew back his sword, eyes scanning the battlefield. Rajan's mobile suit force was making short work of the Husam al-Din's remaining aerial forces. And down below, he could see the _al-Muntazar_ driving forward, with a handful of mobile suits on its deck to augment its guns.

_If you're going to be our enemy,_ he thought bitterly, _then I'm not showing any mercy._

The Destiny took off with a flash, brandishing its anti-ship sword and charging in low over the sands. The mobile suits opened fire, filling the sky with beams and machinegun rounds—only to watch Shinn effortlessly dive around their attacks. The ship answered with a volley from its main cannons—the Destiny somersaulted over it, filling the sky with afterimages and darting down onto its hull.

The first to attack was a Strike Dagger, beam saber held high—only for Shinn to tear it in half with his sword, plowing through its wreckage. The _al-Muntazar_'s starboard gun turned towards him—the Destiny ducked aside from its blast, seizing a GINN standing next to it and slamming it down into the cannon with a palm cannon blow.

Shinn glanced to his right—a CGUE came flying towards him, sword raised high. A moment later, the Destiny whirled around to chop the mobile suit in half, and then followed up with a beam cannon blast through the ship's portside main turret.

"And all that's left," Shinn grunted, "_is you!_"

The Destiny whirled around, whipping its beam rifle up in its left hand and leveling it off at the bridge. Shinn narrowed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

The Destiny Gundam's wings of light shone as the _al-Muntazar_'s bridge tower exploded. Shinn vaulted off the ship's deck, glancing over his shoulder at the _Minerva_—and an instant later, the shimmering beam of the Tannhäuser tore through the ship from bow to stern, wiping it out in a furious inferno.

Shinn watched the smoke rise and sighed.

—

Across the battlefield, inside the Twilight Gundam, Emily ground her teeth as her Gundam batted away a storm of beam rifle shots from the two remaining Ground Windams. Xist's Windam came blazing in close, beam saber drawn, only to see its slash spoiled by a vertical slice from the Twilight.

"Cherie, get around her!" Xist snapped. The second Ground Windam came whirling around the Twilight—

"I won't fall for that!" Emily shot back, drawing her second boomerang with a flash and severing Cherie's Ground Windam's right arm at the elbow.

"My arm—!" Cherie started. Her Windam jetted back as Xist surged forward, pushing the Twilight through the sand. "Xist—!"

"Abdulmalik is telling us to retreat, isn't he?" growled Xist, pausing to dart aside as the Twilight stabbed forward with its second saber. "And I couldn't even draw blood?"

The Ground Windam deflected another saber blow with its shield and whirled around, darting away with its companion across the sands. Emily switched to her long-range cannon to fire after them, but the two Windams skated effortlessly around her shots, disappearing into the desert.

"Commander, are you alright?" Aza asked, her Dagger setting down next to the Twilight. Emily heaved a sigh, shutting down her saber.

"Did all of your soldiers get shot down?" she asked. Aza only nodded somberly; and Emily cast a rueful glance towards the horizon, where the Windams had escaped. _I guess I am the Angel of Death, huh...?_

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Al-Najaf Province, Iraq**

"The Savior just landed," Roxy reported from her console, feet up and a celebratory bottle of bourbon whiskey in hand. "That's all of them."

In the captain's chair, Meyrin sat back to stare at the smoking wreckage of the _al-Muntazar_. It was certainly not unknown for Resistance units to do battle with one another—as the ghosts of Novorossiysk reminded her—but this one had done so without provocation. Had they mistaken the _Minerva_ for someone else? Impossible—it became all too clear when the Gundams charged into the fray. Had they betrayed the Resistance? The hearts of men, even men who claimed to love God more than anything, could be swayed by threats or gold or promises.

"The _Saladin_ reports that its mobile suits have returned," Abbey added from her own station. "We'd better get going before they regroup."

"Malik, resume our previous course."

The _Minerva_'s engines rumbled to life, as Meyrin watched the wreckage pass her by.

—

Athrun Zala emerged from another hour's work on the Infinite Justice with a sigh, stretching to uncoil his cramped muscles. Every ounce of power and speed and responsiveness that the Justice was capable of would not go untapped—this Gundam was his power, his purpose, without which he would just be a body floating through the world and waiting to be destroyed, by time or by war.

As his muscles returned to their natural state, Athrun's eyes fell upon the silent Savior Gundam across the hangar. Right now it was a dull metallic gray, but when it was in battle—indeed, when it was fulfilling its nature—the Savior was a brilliant scarlet.

And red was fitting for a host of reasons. It was the color of passion, of courage, of war—and of her hair.

Athrun shook his head. Viveka fit that symbol all too well, throwing herself into battle and enjoying every second of the fight, matching her wits and skills and reflexes against the best the Alliance could throw at her. And Athrun hated it. He did not doubt her skills—Natural or no, she could more than hold her own and made good use of the Savior's unique speed and firepower. That was not the problem.

What Athrun hated was that every time she charged through the face of superior firepower, he saw himself; he saw his own hands, nailing himself to the cross so that his friends and allies would not have to suffer. _He_, the man who could not stop the wars, the man who could not protect Cagalli, the man who could not protect the Orb Raiders, was the man who was supposed to sacrifice himself and throw himself onto the Alliance's sword. He had failed to protect that which he had dedicated his life to time and time again; did that not merit consequence? It could not have been sufficient for him to simply feel those holes in his heart when he looked at the world that Cagalli and Lacus and Yzak and Dearka and Mwu had left behind.

Of course, only a simple image of her in his mind's eye was enough to dispel those thoughts anyway; because what did he have to complain about? Anyone who tried to nail Viveka von Oldendorf to a cross would have to drive the nail through a titanium prosthetic. Her very body, ornamented in scars she made no obvious effort to hide, was testament enough to her sacrifices. And she still found a way to function like a normal human being.

In the end, Athrun could not help but fear that even for all her scars and skills, someday he would have to watch her die, like he had everyone else he had wanted to protect. He always had the power to save his own life, but never anyone else. He could not control her or hide her away; she would do what she would, she would ride into battle on his wing, and he would have to try to protect her until that day came when he would fail.

Athrun sighed and tore his eyes away from the Savior. Protecting people was always so painful.

—

Stella Loussier was a creature of habit. After every battle, once she had finished the obligatory maintenance on her jet-black war steed, she proceeded directly to her bunk, where she kept a small aquarium with a small, brilliantly colored fish. And Stella Loussier, to the surprise of many, was diligent and exacting in her care for this fish, which probably explained why it had survived for almost three years now. No one could tell what species it was—least of all Stella—but that did not appear to matter to her, because regardless of what species it was, she fed it and cleaned its tank and changed its filter with military precision.

Shinn was typically the one responsible for helping her clean the tank, even though Stella could field-strip and reassemble an Alliance standard-issue assault rifle in a little less than a minute. And Shinn was always impressed with the diligent care Stella took off that fish—a fish that, as far as he knew, had not even a name, but certainly an excellent caretaker. He had asked her why she kept the fish once, and she explained, "it's sorta like the sea."

Today, Shinn was watching her scrub the inside of the tank with a sponge. The blessed fish was waiting in a water-filled plastic bag, looking rather anxious to get back into its tank. Shinn supposed that her explanation made sense. After all, Stella loved almost nothing more than the sea, and nobody had the heart to tell her that it was a freshwater fish.

"Is Shinn okay...?" she asked suddenly.

Shinn sat up with a start. "Err, yeah, why?"

Stella did not take her eyes off her work as she put together an answer. "Shinn is all sad again," she replied. "Shinn's always sad."

At that, the traitor Asuka merely shrugged. "Why do you think I'm sad today?"

"'cuz Emily is sad," came Stella's answer.

Heaving a sigh, Shinn leaned back in his chair. "Emily will be okay," he assured her. "She's just, um, hitting a rough patch in life."

Of course, Shinn did not need Stella to point out that ever since Emily met him, her life had turned into one long rough patch. It seemed he was hard at work paving the road to hell.

Stella appeared to be finished scrubbing the scum off the inside of the aquarium's walls, and turned to pour in a tank of fresh water. "Everyone keeps saying Emily's an angel," she continued, half to herself.

"It's a nickname," explained Shinn, choosing his words carefully and ruing Stella's block word. "Sort of like how people call you the Dark Wolverine."

"But Stella's not a wolf..." Stella protested. Shinn smiled and decided not to try to explain it to her; and besides, all the Alliance soldiers she had torn down inside the Gaia Gundam and out would probably beg to differ. "Is Emily an angel?"

Stella did not appear to be particularly interested in the answer, as she soon devoted all her attention to transferring her fish back to its home. And that was good, because Shinn had no answer to give.

—

"I'm not sure if Vino is aware of this or not," grunted Viveka as she sat in mounting frustration in the Savior Gundam's cockpit, staring helplessly at the operating system's screen, "but _I don't fucking know how to fix this thing_, so it would have been _real_ nice if he hadn't _taken the fuck off_ on me_._"

Standing on the cockpit hatch, Emily suppressed a sigh. That was the Viveka she remembered.

Viveka glanced up powerlessly at her younger sister. "I don't suppose you know how to program quantum computers," she sighed.

"I just let the mechanics do that," Emily answered. Viveka heaved a sigh and slumped back in the cockpit seat.

"Well, it's 1930 hours," she said, "so Athrun Zala the Boy Hero should be by soon. He could rewrite the OS in his sleep." She glanced up at Emily again. "So how do you like having a reputation?"

Emily squirmed under the attention. "Mom always called me 'angel,' so I don't really like it..." She paused, and Viveka sat up, shooting her sister a concerned glance. "And in my memories...dad kept calling me his 'angel of death.' So..."

"He can't get you now," Viveka told her, crawling over the Savior's console to drag Emily into as protective an embrace as she could. "You're on the _Minerva_ now; you're not _his_ angel of death, you're _the_ Angel of Death. You can take control of your destiny and make the power he put in you your own."

"I'm trying," Emily murmured, pausing to relish the feeling of closeness to her long-lost sister. "I guess I don't have a choice."

A devilish grin flickered over Viveka's lips. "Well, look at it this way," she said. "You've got the most protective boyfriend in the world."

Emily's face flashed red. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, millions of girls would _kill_ to hang out with Shinn Asuka."

Suddenly, Emily was very glad that _she_ was the Newtype and not Viveka. "We—I'm not—he's not my boyfriend!" she sputtered. "Why does everyone think we're dating?"

"All successful relationships are built around shared mobile suit combat experience," laughed Viveka.

Emily sighed in defeat. "How come I'm the one who gets made fun of? What about you and Athrun?"

At that, Viveka offered only a sarcastic laugh, although Emily noticed a touched nerve and made a note not to go here again. "Athrun wouldn't know if a girl was his girlfriend if she jumped his bones in the middle of the hallway," she snorted. "He's got his virtues, but he's kind of a dumbass when it comes to interacting with other human beings."

"I—um, okay," Emily answered, deciding not to go there.

"And besides," Viveka continued, her grin returning, "I'm your sister. It's my job to tease you. Says so in the fine print."

"And you do your best," Emily sighed, pushing Viveka's flash of frustration out of her mind.

—

_**Compton**_**-class land battleship **_**Saladin**_**, Al-Najaf Province, Iraq**

Karda surveyed the scene before him, eyes grim and dark. The desert sands were pockmarked with the black, smoking wrecks of cars and trucks. It was obvious, from the scattered belongings and the bodies, that it was a civilian caravan; and the craters from what looked like missile impacts told the tale.

"Those flags are of the Husam al-Din," Tekman observed from his haunt near the captain's chair. "But what did they have a civilian caravan out here for...?"

"Nasir must have been moving them out of their slums," Karda answered. He turned grimly towards Tekman. "I'm starting to get the feeling that he was doing the Alliance's work."

"Nasir?" Tekman asked, an eyebrow arched. "A collaborator?"

"He wouldn't have simultaneously attacked us and moved his people out of Baghdad unless he had some kind of deal," replied Karda. "Maybe the Alliance promised them protection, and obviously went back on their word. Maybe they threatened him and he tried to move his people out, using the battle as a distraction. I wouldn't know; but his attack was so sudden and unprovoked that I must question it."

Tekman was silent for a moment. "So what does that mean for us?"

Karda glanced bitterly back towards the ruined caravan. "We will find out when we reach the Shatt al-Arab."

—

**Earth Alliance **_**Hannibal**_**-class land battleship **_**Damascus**_**, Al-Muthanna Province, Iraq**

"She's not so cute anymore, is she?"

Standing on the gantry overlooking the _Damascus_' sprawling hangar, Cherie glanced over at Xist. The two pilots looked down over their two Ground Windams, as Cherie's Windam had its severed arm replaced.

"We rattled her cage," Cherie offered. "And next time we'll know what to watch out for, like getting too close."

Xist shrugged. "That's true. What's our next course?"

"We're following them to the Shatt al-Arab. That giant Phantom Pain battleship is waiting there for them. We'll come crashing down on them all there."

Xist's characteristic sportsman's grin finally returned, and Cherie stifled a sigh of relief. Xist was never easy to deal with when he brooded over a lost comrade. "Well, I wouldn't be too great a soldier if I didn't jump at the chance for a rematch, huh?" He glanced over at Cherie. "Next time we fight her, we'll take her on together. She can't keep getting lucky."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Shatt al-Arab, Iraq**

The sky was a brilliant orange, the sun sinking beneath the horizon and painting the sky with the color of flame. Standing on the bridge of the _Charlemagne_, arms crossed over his chest, Ivan Danilov stared pensively into the sky. It was approaching twilight—yes, twilight, twilight for the Twilight Gundam. For that little girl. For Unit Zero-One.

Word was spreading around the world of the little girl who had joined the crew of the mighty _Minerva_ and piloted a black Gundam with wings of light. She was the one who killed Kenta Shoyou, the Sky Samurai; she killed Harris Meyers, son of the Atlantic Federation's powerful Majority Leader; she had fought down even Marshal Markav, defeated the Alliance at Volgograd and Novorossiysk, and stood against the Night Tigers themselves. To the Resistance, she was a gift from above; to the Alliance, she was a menace; to everyone, she was the Angel of Death. But to Ivan Danilov and those who knew the secret, she was Unit Zero-One.

So much power had been concentrated on the _Minerva_. It was his job, his _duty_, to see to it that such power was shattered.

"Captain," Vera started from his side, interrupting his thoughts. "The _Minerva_ has been sighted on advance radar. ETA is forty minutes."

Forty minutes. That would be long enough for the sun to slip beneath the horizon—such an ill omen.

"So we face the _Minerva_ and their Angel of Death at the hour of twilight," Danilov murmured. "Very well, then. Order all hands to prepare for battle."

Vera saluted and turned away to fill her orders. Danilov looked up to the sky once more and made the sign of the cross.

_От имени Отца, и Сына, и Святого Духа. Аминь._

He cast his eyes towards the sky one last time, before turning towards the captain's chair.

—

To be continued...


	32. Phase 32: Those Who Face Death

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 32 - Those Who Face Death

—

**March 16th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Shatt al-Arab**

"Captain, heat signature detected near the river mouth! It's the _Charlemagne!_"

Meyrin Hawke felt her blood freeze as the words registered in her mind and the image appeared on the auxiliary screen. There it was, that hulking behemoth, the _Charlemagne_, the warship that Lord Djibril had built to destroy her _Minerva_. She had hoped they had disappeared for supplies, or repairs, or to fight somebody else, or perhaps God had simply erased them from existence as an act of mercy to the _Minerva_'s beleaguered commander, but there it was before her, guns ready, spoiling for a fight.

"They're launching mobile suits," Burt added nervously from the sensor console. "Captain..."

Meyrin swallowed her fear and willed her blood to thaw. The captain showed no fear. She squinted up ahead, stretching her Coordinator vision as far as it would go. A huge seaport sprawled over the waterway, which lay between the _Minerva_ and its gargantuan foe. "Roxy, issue Condition Red and launch our mobile suits. It's time for our rematch with that thing."

—

The humming of the Strike Noir's engines was something of a comfort to Sven Cal Bayan as his mobile suit sailed into battle, with Shams' Verde Buster and Mudie's Blu Duel on his flanks. Even so, he had to remember what this battle would be. If they could destroy the _Minerva_ here, so much the better—but Captain Danilov did not appear to be counting on it. All they had to do was force the _Minerva_ out to sea. If they strayed further inland and traveled to the Pacific through Iran and Pakistan and India, then Crayt Markav's brainchild, Operation _Judgment_, would have to be scrapped. Too many resources had gone into this operation to cancel it now.

"Sven," Shams' voice broke into his thoughts, "shouldn't we bring some more pilots with us against the Destiny? We've never brought it down with just the three of us."

"Are we weak...?" mumbled Mudie.

"We don't need to bring it down this time," Sven answered. "We just need to force them out to sea. For the three of us, that means we have to keep the Destiny busy so it can't interfere with Captain Danilov's maneuvers."

"Yeah, because we've been so great at forcing them to do stuff before," Shams sighed. "Whatever you say."

The Destiny Gundam was somewhere up there, but Sven was confident that if his goal was merely to contain it and not destroy it, victory would be his.

—

"I'm telling you, I have no idea how to command mobile suit teams," Emily said with a sigh. The Twilight streaked forward with Aza's Jet Dagger L on its flank and a BABI and two Guul-mounted GuAIZ Rs. Emily had a sneaking suspicion that they would be the first to die.

"We can't sit behind the lines and watch you fight them alone," Aza insisted.

Emily frowned in the Twilight's cockpit. _Well, I don't want you to die either..._

"Commander," the BABI's pilot spoke up, "I've got the enemy count up. Two of those hovering Windams and six black Windams flying."

_Six...? Is it those two?_ Emily squinted up towards the shimmering sands, where the crimson Windam was storming forward with the second ground-borne Windam and the six flying Dark Windams arrayed behind it. She glanced over at Aza's meager squad—how could those machines compete against Phantom Pain Windams?

The answer never came, as instead the Dark Windams opened fire, and the two flying units came roaring forward. The Twilight lunged aside as Aza's squad broke formation—Emily ground her teeth as the familiar Slaughter Windam and IWSP Dark Windam shot by her. An instant later, she swung up the Twilight's beam shield to deflect a beam volley from the rest of the Dark Windams, all equipped with Jet Strikers—and a moment later, the Ground Windams added to the volley.

"Aza, get back!" Emily cried, slamming the Twilight into the ground and ramming the first Ground Windam with her Gundam's shoulder. Even as it fell back, the red Windam came whirling around her, beam saber drawn—and the moment she blocked its saber blow with her shield, a whirling beam boomerang came streaking out of the heavens, nearly taking the Twilight's head. "What—?"

The IWSP Windam landed with a crash, pelting the Twilight with Gatling rounds—an instant later, the red Windam surged forward, throwing the Twilight back. Emily backflipped her machine, lunging into the air, only to have the Slaughter Windam attack with a beam saber hack she barely dodged.

Missiles and beam rifle blasts filled the sky as the Twilight clawed for distance. Emily willed down the panic—she couldn't fight these eight machines alone, but neither could she let Aza and her team be slaughtered, as they surely would—

More missiles and more beam shots lanced around her—but an instant later, Aza's Dagger L came down in front of the Twilight, deflecting a blast with its shield. "We will protect you!" came someone's voice—Emily looked up in surprise to see the two GuAIZ Rs around her, beam rifles and railguns blazing. "Get out of the middle!"

Emily swallowed the fear, because somebody would have to die. "Aza, you deal with those two ground machines," she said, "and I'll deal with these flying ones!"

The Twilight took off with a roar, dancing around beam volleys and charging towards the six flying Windams.

—

"Sixteen Jet Windams, eight Doppelhorn Windams, and four Buster Daggers," Viveka counted, and even through the tinny voice from the Infinite Justice's cockpit speakers, Athrun could hear the boredom dripping from her voice. "If I didn't know better, I'd say they were insulting us."

Athrun grimly surveyed the enemies. A squadron of Jet Windams in the sky, supported by two squads of Doppelhorn Windams and a squad of Buster Daggers on the decks of the three land battleships below—nothing insurmountable, but formidably arrayed nonetheless. Viveka had the skills to back up her boasting, but...

"You hang back and bombard them from afar," Athrun instructed. "I'll take care of them up close."

"You always hog all the fun," shot back Viveka.

The two Gundams rocketed apart as the Buster Daggers opened fire—the Infinite Justice went spiraling down towards the sand, and half of the Jet Windams broke off to follow, the rest arcing after the Savior. Athrun pulled up as the Justice skimmed low over the desert surface, beams ripping up the sands below—an instant later he slammed on the brakes, whirling around with his beam blade alight to saw one of the Windams in half. Even as his foes turned to face him, he shot down a second with a rifle blast to the back—and as they opened fire, he took off again behind the cover of his beam shield.

The Windams whirled around themselves as another volley of beam blasts came sailing upon them from behind, where they found the Savior in mobile armor mode streaking out of the sky, the other half of the Windam squad racing after it. The crimson Gundam transformed in midair, somersaulted backward, and showered the Windams with plasma fire—and then whipped around to shoot down another.

Athrun glanced over his shoulder as the mobile suits below began to fire—an instant later, he slammed the Justice's Grapple Stinger into a Jet Windam's chest and yanked the crippled machine into the path of the Doppelhorn Windams' shells, letting them destroy their own comrade; and with a crash, he kicked the ruined mobile suit down towards the deck of the attacking landship.

"If we can clear off those ships' decks, then we can attack," Athrun grunted. "Viveka! Gain some distance!"

—

Rocking and shaking, the Chaos Gundam took cover behind its shield as a hurricane of missiles came slamming into it. Sting squinted through the smoke—a formation of Jet Dark Windams, supported from below by Doppelhorns and from afar by a squad of Lightning Windams.

"I never cease to be amused by the rabble that Lord Djibril believes can defeat us!" cackled Rau, his Legend Gundam plunging effortlessly through a wave of beam fire and returning it in spades from the Legend's DRAGOON units. "Surely you will understand someday that mere mobile suits will not stop the wheels of destiny!"

"Quit your babbling and fight, Mr. Bucket," Auel shot back. The Abyss spiraled up through a barrage of artillery shells and pounded back a beam salvo of its own, forcing the Jet Windams to pull back behind their shields.

Sting deflected a salvo of shells with his shield, pulling back behind the smoke. "We're getting nowhere like this...how about some brilliant ideas, Rau?"

Inside the Legend, Rau grinned at the favor to his ego. "We'll try Attack Pattern Chi," he said. "Auel, assume formation!"

"Oh, go assume yourself," snapped back Auel, even as the Abyss pulled up next to the Legend. Sting came down in front of them both, beam rifle ready—

All three Gundams were forced apart by a concentrated volley of beam fire from the Jet Windams. Sting narrowed his eyes at the attackers, firing back and managing to pick off one of them.

"Well, well," he grumbled. "They're getting smarter."

"Then we will have to pare their numbers enough to give us another opportunity," Rau answered. "Sting, the weapon pods—"

"I know!" Sting growled, as the Chaos plunged back into battle.

—

"So, I see the Devil's Swords are back!" snapped Shinn as the Destiny Gundam sailed into battle, drawing its sword with a graceful flourish.

Across the field, inside the Strike Noir, Sven tensed for battle. "The Gaia, a GOUF Ignited, and the Destiny," he grunted. "Mudie, you and I will close in. Shams, support us from afar."

The Verde Buster snapped its rifles into position as the Blu Duel and Strike Noir charged. Shinn tightened his grip on the Destiny's controls, plunging in between them and separating them with a downward sword hack.

"Stella, stay back!" Shinn cried; the Destiny swerved to the side as the Noir and Blu Duel opened fire, taking cover behind its beam shield. The Gaia and GOUF opened fire from afar, showering the two mobile suits with beam fire—only to be forced apart by a volley from the Verde Buster, which then switched its sights to the Destiny with a punishing railgun salvo.

"Eagle Maneuver!" Sven's voice barked through the crashes of war; the Noir and Blu Duel spread out on either side of the Destiny, and Mudie hurled a trio of Stilettos at the notorious Gundam. They exploded still far from their target, throwing up a pall of smoke—Shinn grunted in surprise as a flurry of beam blasts pummeled his shield and drove him back. And an instant later, the Blu Duel and Noir tore through the smoke, curving upwards like an eagle's wings and delivering a searing beam volley that tore dark scars into the Destiny's shoulders and arms.

"What the hell is this—?" Shinn started—cut off an instant later when the two Gundams came down with a crash, the Noir sliding in behind the Destiny and yanking its right arm, anti-ship sword and all, to the side with a rocket anchor. The Blu Duel swept in, beam saber upraised—

"Not fast enough!" roared Rajan al-Raqeeb, as his GOUF slammed into the fray and stopped the Blu Duel with its beam sword in its left hand. "And now—!"

He too was cut off when a shimmering beam blast blew his beam rifle out of his right hand—he looked up in shock, only to find the Verde Buster there, beam cannons raised. A moment later, the Blu Duel surged forward, beam saber flashing to life and stopped only by the GOUF's shield.

Shinn pushed down his frustration. "Stella, take care of him!" he yelled. "And as for you...!"

The Destiny yanked hard on the Noir's rocket anchor, pulling it forward, and Shinn whirled around with his palm cannon ready—and an instant later, he forced the cannon forward to deflect the Noir's left-hand beam blade.

"Mudie, disengage and prepare for Lion Maneuver!" ordered Sven. "We will have to remove one of these troublesome pests..."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

"The _Minerva_ has the edge over us in terms of speed," Danilov muttered to himself, studying his foe intently as both ships circled each other like sharks. "But we have the advantage of firepower..."

"They're not as maneuverable as a fighter, sir," Vera pointed out. "And we can fill the entire sky with fire if we have to."

Danilov leaned forward, straining to see the _Minerva_'s bridge tower and perhaps steal a fleeting glimpse into the face of his opponent. That captain had the guts to ram four Storm Eagle cruise missiles into his ship, even though the _Minerva_ was missing nearly all of her weapons; that captain had the insight to open fire on a rapid solution at Poljarny to cripple Admiral Stone's fleet before anyone knew what hit them; but that captain could not break the laws of physics.

"We'll play some Pong with the _Minerva_, then," Danilov said, sitting up. "Starboard and centerline Gottfrieds, target the space to the _Minerva_'s port and fire all guns!"

The _Charlemagne_ hurled an army's worth of firepower at the _Minerva_, and predictably, the winged battleship ducked to the side. Danilov grinned.

"Port and centerline Gottfrieds, target the _Minerva_'s starboard! Do not hit them!"

Once again the _Charlemagne_'s guns roared, forcing the _Minerva_ to swerve to the side. The winged warship fired back with its own beam cannons, but the last-minute evasion had thrown off its aim and the return salvo sailed wide of the _Charlemagne_.

"Helm, bring us around! Centerline and portside Gottfrieds, fire again! Fire across their bow! Do not hit them!"

The Gottfrieds blazed again, lancing a storm of firepower just in front of the _Minerva_'s prow. The ship sank low beneath the blasts, and Danilov smiled, imagining their new arc through the air—plunging down into the seaport.

And true to form, with a gut-wrenching screech, the _Minerva_ plowed through a massive cargo crane that crashed down onto the ship's port wing and dragged it towards the ground.

"Captain, the _Minerva_'s speed just dropped in half—!" the sensor officer exclaimed.

"Do we go in for the kill?" asked Vera. Danilov shook his head.

"They'll expect that and have their guns pointing straight at us. Sledgehammers, fire!"

The _Charlemagne_ quaked as a hurricane of Sledgehammer anti-ship missiles took off from the missile ports. Danilov narrowed his eyes.

"CIWS, target the Sledgehammers and destroy them! Helm, drop our altitude by 150 meters—emergency dive!"

The captain felt every rivet of his ship groan in protest as his massive warship gunned down its own missiles, casting a veil of smoke over the battlefield. The _Charlemagne_ ducked down as gracefully as a kilometer-long ship could do so, and an instant later the _Minerva_'s bellowing return salvo seared by, safely over the _Charlemagne_'s tower.

"Gottfrieds, target the ground around the _Minerva_ in a 550-meter spread and fire!"

Obediently and mercilessly, the _Charlemagne_ poured firepower into the ground, raising terrifying columns of smoke and fire as the _Minerva_ struggled its way through fallen, ancient machinery.

Danilov watched tensely as his foe tore its way loose.

_I need to get inside your head, captain of the _Minerva_...so let's see what it will take._

—

**Phantom Island, Strait of Hormuz, Indian Ocean**

The blizzard of dots and figures on the massive main screen of Phantom Island's command room were largely meaningless to Crayt Markav as she stood with arms crossed, watching the pulsing mass of information writhing on the screen before her. The _Minerva_ was in battle with the _Charlemagne_ and General Abdulmalik at the Shatt al-Arab. Abdulmalik was irrelevant—he could be sacrificed in good conscience. And it was irrelevant whether or not the _Charlemagne_ inflicted any heavy damage on the _Minerva, _so long as it was forced into the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, where Phantom Island could fall upon it and slam down the hammer of God.

Ivan Danilov had turned out to be something of a disappointment anyway. He had shown promise as a naval tactician in space during the Junius War and the years after it, but no soldier of God could shrink from his duty the way Captain Danilov had in Volgograd. The enemy was damned already—there was no need to show them any mercy here, when God would show them the ultimate justice in a place far worse than Earth.

"Marshal, Rear Admiral Havilland reports that his fleet is assembled," came O'Brien's voice from somewhere to Crayt's left. She shrugged indifferently. "Everything is ready, ma'am."

"Not quite," she interrupted. "Surely there is another unit available to soften up our friends on the _Minerva_ before they stumble into our trap."

"The _Manhattan_ is still in dock at Dubai, ma'am," answered O'Brien. "Captain Martinez radioed in a few hours ago. He has no pending assignments outside of patrolling the Persian Gulf."

Crayt turned that thought over for a moment. If she sent the _Manhattan_ to harass the _Minerva_, they would probably be destroyed for their troubles. Well, no matter—if God could sacrifice His only son on the cross for all humanity's sake, then Crayt Markav could sacrifice some Earth Alliance Navy regulars on the battlefield for His sake.

"Order the _Manhattan_ into the Persian Gulf to harass the _Minerva_ until they reach Hormuz," Crayt said. "We will batter the _Minerva_ with relentless blows until they stagger into our trap."

—

Beams filled the sky as the Infinite Justice Gundam corkscrewed through the Windam squadron's field of fire, letting their beams sear by and leveling off its own beam rifle for a return volley. Athrun ground his teeth as the instinct of danger warned him—an instant later, he swept a barrage of CIWS fire to his right, cutting down a pair of anti-ship missiles. And even as the missiles exploded, the Justice rocked from a trio of bazooka shells to the left.

"Dammit, there's more—!" Athrun started, whipping around to return fire with his beam rifle. The Windams rose up around him, pummeling the Infinite Justice with beam volleys and searing jagged scars over its armor.

The Justice backflipped out of the gauntlet, and with a crash, slammed its Grapple Stinger into the cockpit of the Windam directly below it; Athrun yanked the Windam up into its comrades' field of fire, letting their beams shred their own wingman to pieces. With a crash, he hurled the broken mobile suit back at the remaining Windams—they jetted apart, spreading out to flank the Justice and force it on the defensive with its beam shield.

The three Windams broke off as a plasma volley tore through their field of fire, making way for the Savior Gundam as it rammed its way into the fray.

"Athrun!" cried Viveka. "You alright?"

"Never better," grunted back Athrun. "We're getting nowhere fast. Ideas?"

The two Gundams jetted apart as the Windam team resumed its barrage, supported this time from the ship below. Athrun squinted at the ground-borne foe; a _Hood_-class land battleship, still with Doppelhorn and Lightning Windams on its deck.

"You leave these three to me," Viveka instructed, "and go kick that landship's ass. 'kay?"

Immediately, the Savior charged at the three Windams, and then abruptly pulled up, luring the Windams higher into the sky after all. Athrun shook his head, wondering where his choice had gone, and charged instead towards the _Ramallah_ as it ground through the sand. To the side, he could make out another _Hood_-class charging into the fray as well—but one behemoth would have to work at a time.

"First of all, to stop you!"

The Justice plunged down beneath a barrage of firepower, pumping beam rifle shots into the sand and raising a cloud of dust and flame. The _Ramallah_ stalled in the mess as the sand parted beneath it, pitching forward and throwing three of its Windam passengers off its deck. Athrun ignored them, plunging through the smoke and spearing the _Ramallah_'s bow Gottfried cannon with a beam rifle blast. A pillar of smoke rose in front of the ship's bridge tower—Athrun seized his chance, tearing forward and detaching the Fatum-01.

With a roar of engines, the Fatum opened up and rocketed forward, plunging into the _Ramallah_'s hull at the base of the bridge tower. The Justice itself flipped over the wrecked bow, landing on the twisted deck with a crash and deflecting artillery shells from the surviving Doppelhorn Windams with its beam shield. The Fatum ripped through the _Ramallah_'s base, wrenching itself free through the ship's stern and arcing up into the sky. The Doppelhorns turned their fire on it—an instant later, the Justice was upon them, tearing down one of them with one backhanded beam blade slash and another with a beam rifle blast. The last two Doppelhorns turned their fire back on the Justice—

...just in time to be torn in two from behind by the Fatum, which flipped over the Justice's head to reattach to its back. Athrun cast a grim glance around the _Ramallah_'s flaming wreckage, and vaulted back into the air.

—

"Those soldiers from before...!" groaned Emily, as her Twilight Gundam reeled under a punishing artillery barrage from the IWSP Windam. "I won't—!"

She went silent as the smoke parted and the Slaughter Windam was there, seizing the Twilight by the head with a crash of metal. The yelp of surprise hardly registered in her own ears before Emily found herself being dragged by the head through the sand, pushed forward by the Aile Striker's thrusters. And just as she swung the Twilight's leg up to plant it in the ground and gain some control, the Windam tossed the Twilight into the air—and then slammed it in the back with a roundhouse kick that rattled Emily's brain.

"What the—?" she started, only to cry again as the IWSP Windam pounded the Twilight back into the sand with an artillery barrage. "Are you two just toying with me?"

The Slaughter Windam leapt into the air, beam rifle leveled off, but Emily backflipped the Twilight back to its feet, lunging back into the sky and firing back. The two Windams were undeterred, returning her fire in spades and nearly knocking her back to earth.

"_That_ was just playing dirty," Emily grunted, rubbing the side of her throbbing head. The two Windams rose up into the air, flanked by two more on either side—and leaving Emily to anxiously scan their ranks, hoping that someone would leave her an opening.

Instead, the Windams snapped their rifles up to let loose a winnowing salvo of beam blasts, searing through the air and nearly taking off the Twilight's head. Emily rocketed her machine upwards—the Windams adjusted their aim, and the Slaughter Windam switched to its beam saber and charged, with shells from the IWSP Windam tearing by over its head.

Emily switched her rifle to the Twilight's left hand, drawing a beam saber with her right, and steeled herself for a swordfight—but the IWSP Windam's beam boomerang was there instead to saw her rifle in two. She pulled back behind her beam shield, only to be pummeled with more beam blasts from the Jet Windams. And an instant later, only an instinctual jab upwards with the beam saber saved her from the Slaughter Windam's downward slice.

"I can't keep doing this forever, or—" Emily started again, only to be interrupted when the Slaughter Windam slammed its knee up into the Twilight's cockpit hatch, sending the shockwaves rattling through the cockpit and down her spine. As her ears began to ring, she looked up, just in time to watch the Windam rear back and send her flying with a kick to the chest. And an instant later, the IWSP Windam's guns were blazing again, knocking her out of the sky.

The Slaughter Windam came charging in, beam rifle out again and leveled, out for blood. Emily narrowed her eyes—

An instant later, the Twilight leapt back into the air and chopped the Windam's rifle in half. The Windam staggered, its pilot clearly surprised as its rifle sparked and exploded; and a moment later, Emily added to the surprise with a punishing kick to the back of the head.

The Jet Windams opened fire again, this time in support of the IWSP Windam as it came streaking in, swords upraised, but the Twilight deflected the blow with its beam saber. Emily clenched her fists around her Gundam's controls—time to regain some initiative.

—

"Their formation is still tight and defensible from all sides," observed Rau, even as his Legend Gundam swatted beam blasts out of the sky. "If we can break them apart—" He cut himself off and forced the Legend into a dive, dodging a wave of beam fire. "As I was saying..."

"Fuck this! I'll take care of it!" shouted Auel. The Abyss lunged up from below, shoulder shells opening, and let fly with a torrent of beam fire—and Auel could only curse in frustration as the Windams pulled apart, letting the beams pass between them, and returning the fire tenfold.

"We're never gonna get through them like this," grunted Sting, pausing to shoot down a handful of missiles. "Unless somebody pulls off some _really_ fucking awesome flying..."

"I am not one to rely on that," Rau answered. He scowled as the Windams ahead began to advance, intensifying their beam barrage. "Sting, Auel, Attack Pattern Rho!"

"Oh, I _hate_ that one!" Auel groaned. The Abyss took up its position above and behind the Legend. "Go!"

The Abyss snapped open its shoulder shells, abruptly letting fly with a punishing return volley that forced the Windam squadron apart and behind their shields. An instant later, the Chaos and Legend went rocketing forward, beam rifles blazing as they slid by underneath the Abyss's field of fire. The Windams turned their fire on the two approaching Gundams—they immediately broke off, rocketing away in opposite directions. A moment later, Auel pummeled their ranks with a beam volley of his own, taking down three Windams in the crossfire.

"Dammit, that was all?" he snapped, shielding himself as the Windams fired at him again.

"They'll be expecting that again, as well," Rau murmured, dodging incoming fire in the Legend. "We'll have to switch..." He glanced over his shoulder. "Attack Pattern Iota!"

—

With alarms wailing and the whole mobile suit frame shaking, Shinn squinted through the smoke at his opponent, the Strike Noir, its railguns still extended. The Noir brandished its blades and charged—Shinn ground his teeth, swinging his sword into position to block the Noir's blow—

...and an instant later, the Destiny rocked as the Verde Buster pummeled it with railgun shells. The Destiny drew its beam rifle in its left hand, only to have it blown away by a railgun volley from the Noir. And a moment later, the Blu Duel slid in from behind, beam saber raised for a killing slash—

Instead, with a piercing scream, Stella's Gaia Gundam came rocketing out of the sky to ram the Blu Duel aside with its shoulder. The Blu Duel whirled around, beam saber drawn, only to find the Gaia upon it with its own saber, nearly taking off the Blu Duel's arm.

Inside the Noir, Sven bit back a curse. "Shams, keep firing at the Destiny; we'll lure that GOUF into range!"

The Verde Buster obediently let fly with another beam salvo again, pounding the Destiny's beam shields. Shinn narrowed his eyes, firing back through the smoke with his long-range cannon—but instinct cried out a warning and he swung his sword to the side, barely deflecting the Noir's blades as it came plunging back into the fray.

"Raqeeb! I'll handle this one, you deal with the other one!" Shinn shouted.

"With pleasure!" cried Rajan, his GOUF rocketing into the air with its sword drawn. It charged towards the Verde Buster, expertly dodging its beam cannon shots. "You're a long-range model, but if I get close—" He swung its sword up for a killing blow—

In the Verde Buster's cockpit, Shams could only grin. "_Gotcha!_"

And with a flash, the Verde Buster ignited its right-hand heat bayonet and slashed off the GOUF's right arm at the shoulder. Rajan's eyes went wide, and he whirled around, swinging up his left-hand beam guns—only to see the Verde Buster slice off his left arm at the elbow. Shams grinned and leveled off his left-hand rifle, and Rajan al-Raqeeb disappeared in a ball of fire.

Down below, swords locked with the Strike Noir, Shinn felt his blood run hot as Rajan's essence vanished from his consciousness. "I knew I shouldn't have—" He fell silent again as the Noir surged forward, pounding the Destiny with a kick to the head and swinging in for a killing sword stroke. Shinn deflected the blow with his own sword, forcing the Destiny's strength into the counter-blow and sending the Noir hurtling back. "Dammit...Stella! Are you alright?"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"_Charlemagne_ is six hundred to port and rising!" cried Burt as the _Minerva_ quaked. Meyrin ground her teeth as the missiles exploded unnervingly close to her ship's hull—was this captain trying to defeat her or just toy with her?

"Raise our altitude to 1100 and prepare the Tannhäuser," she ordered. "Chen, even if we can get up to their level, we'll only have a moment—"

She was cut off as the _Minerva_ dove suddenly, lurching forward and ducking down towards the ground as a wave of Gottfried fire ripped by overhead. Meyrin looked up in disbelief, finding her ship driving back into the port and its rusting, twisted machinery.

_What is this guy doing?_

"Malik, pull up—!" she cried, too late as the _Minerva_ plowed through the wrecks. A towering, decaying crane buckled under the impact, and Meyrin felt her heart stop as it came crashing down onto the Tannhäuser's hatch.

"Missiles, captain!" Burt cried—the CIWS responded automatically, but in shock, Meyrin noticed too late that several of them were blocked by wreckage, and the _Minerva_ groaned in protest as a dozen of the _Charlemagne_'s missiles slammed home.

"Dammit...they're trying to trap us first!" Abbey cried. "Damage report!"

Meyrin glanced up at the sky, where the _Charlemagne_ was waiting.

_You haven't seen a bit of me yet..._

—

"So Iota was a bust too," grunted Sting, the Chaos quaking under a wave of beam fire. "Hey Phantom of the Opera, anymore brilliant ideas?"

Inside the Legend, Rau frowned at yet another sarcastic nickname from one of the Extended. "They're fighting defensively...not interested in offense, only in keeping us contained..."

The Abyss lunged down into the fray, spraying the sky with beams and shell fire and forcing the Dark Windams to break formation behind their shields. "_There_ we go!" snapped Auel. "Now—"

The Windams immediately formed up again and pummeled the Abyss with a wall of firepower. Rau gritted his teeth, spiraling into the fray to return fire in spades and drive the Windams back again.

"We need more units," he said. "Sting, the gunbarrels!"

The Chaos flashed its eyes and launched its gunbarrels with a roar, snaking them down into the fray to slam the Windam formation with fire from its flanks. As the mobile suits broke ranks to defend themselves, Auel and Rau lined up on Sting's flanks, firing a withering beam salvo to prevent the Windams from straying too far. The gunbarrels claimed one Windam before it could deflect the shots with its shield—and with a crash, Sting gleefully opened fire on the panicking prey with his beam rifle, sniping down two more before they regained their composure and pulled back.

"And that leaves us with ten of these bastards," Auel groaned, struggling to break their formation again with a beam volley. The Windams refused to budge, this time concentrating their fire between the Gundams to force them apart. "Well, it's a start..."

—

Shinn had to admit that this time the Devil's Swords had outdone themselves. The Strike Noir made for a fearsome foe at close quarters, while the Verde Buster pummeled it from afar.

The Verde Buster lined up for a beam cannon volley, but instead unleashed a torrent of missiles. The Destiny waved its hand imperiously, veering the weapons off course—only for the Strike Noir to seize the opportunity, lunging into the Destiny's face and knocking it backwards with a kick to the chest. And too late, Shinn realized that he was back in the missiles' path—just as they began to slam into the Destiny and drive it back.

Shinn hacked apart the smoke with his sword, biting back a frustrated scowl. An instant later, the Noir was behind him, and with a crash it wrapped both its anchors around the Destiny's arms, yanking them apart and exposing the Destiny's torso.

"Haven't you tried this trick before?" snapped Shinn—

The fatal beam blast never came, however, and the Destiny instead found itself staring down another set of missiles from the Verde Buster. Shinn clenched his fists around the Destiny's controls as his Gundam quaked under the blast—the Phase Shift armor would protect the machine from damage, but the pilot...

The instinct was there again, and with a mighty tug, the Destiny ripped the Noir's anchors loose from their sockets. Shinn quickly whirled around, sword ready, only to catch empty air—and the Noir came crashing down on him again. And this time, the Verde Buster lined up its beam cannons—

"_No you don't!_"

Instead of a finishing shot, the Verde Buster went reeling back as the Blu Duel slammed into it, thrown backwards with its beam saber still active. Shinn looked up in surprise, finding the Gaia there, beam saber raised, eyes shining, and he needed no Newtype senses to tell that now Stella was pissed.

As the Gaia charged to take on the Blu Duel and Verde Buster, Shinn returned his attention to the Noir.

_This is more like it!_

—

The beams and missiles from the _Karbala_ filled the sky as the Infinite Justice and Savior corkscrewed through the firepower, aiming for the Windams surrounding it in the sky and on its deck. Viveka risked a glance over at her companion's elegant machine—naturally, he was not even bothering to use his beam shield, simply slapping shots aside with the boomerang blade.

"Well, this one we can take down together," she said with a grin. "You ready?" Athrun merely nodded, and Viveka turned her eye towards the _Karbala._ "_That's_ what I like to see!"

The Justice rocketed down towards the sand, skimming in low over the surface and drawing fire from the Windams on the deck. The airborne mobile suits kept their focus on the Savior, and that was all Viveka wanted. The Savior transformed into its mobile armor mode and blasted towards the _Karbala_ at maximum speed, plowing through missiles and corkscrewing through desperate beam shots. The Windams broke ranks to avoid a collision—an instant later, passing between them, the Savior transformed again and blew three of the Windams out of the sky with a rapid beam volley before the rest could respond. And as the surviving three Windams pulled back behind their shields, the Savior went plunging towards the _Karbala_.

The _Karbala_ struggled to divert its fire between the two Gundams, but the Savior fired back with its plasma cannons, punching through the ship's starboard Gottfried cannon and blowing it apart. The ship rocked, its guns falling silent for a moment—all the time Athrun needed to lunge up from the sand and destroy the bow Gottfried with his beam rifle. The Windams struggled to turn their fire on the Justice, but it vaulted off the smoldering bow and blew out the bridge with a backhanded slice. And as the ship continued to grind forward with its engines at maximum speed, the Savior landed with a crash on top of the smoking bridge tower and poured firepower into the base of the ship's hull.

The two Gundams returned to the sky as arms of fire claimed their prey, and turned their eyes towards the Windams.

—

Shuddering under the blows of its enemies, the Twilight Gundam staggered towards the ground, firing back into the sky with its long-range cannon and taking cover behind its beam shield. Emily's eyes darted around the battlefield—she was running out of options, and those Windams were staying awfully far back.

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt and her instinct took over, backflipping the Twilight out of harm's way—and an instant later, the crimson Ground Windam shot by underneath her, beam carbine leveled off. It whirled around to spray the Twilight with beam fire—and the second Windam came streaking in from behind, beam saber drawn. The Twilight vaulted into the air, and then ducked aside as the Dark Windams overhead opened fire again.

Emily glanced to the side, finding Aza's battered Jet Dagger L rocketing back into the fray—alone.

"Aza, what happened to your squad...?" started Emily.

Aza's dour face said all that needed to be said. "Those two ground machines..." she growled, casting a rueful glare towards them. Emily looked back down at the two Ground Windams as they formed up and showered the two flying mobile suits with beam fire.

"Well, let's take them down together," she said, "and then we'll handle the flying ones!"  
The two mobile suits rocketed apart, returning fire and dodging the blasts from overhead. The Ground Windams lined up for a beam barrage, only to be forced apart by return fire.

"The one in the red is a better pilot," Emily grunted, "so I'll distract you first!"

The Twilight darted down towards the red Ground Windam, forcing it to pull up and skate aside. As it did, the Twilight whirled around with its long cannon, firing down into the sand at the Windam's feet and billowing up a cloud of dust. She whipped around again, training her cannon on the second Ground Windam. It ducked aside from her shots and swung around behind the black Gundam, leveling off its carbine—

A beam came slicing out of nowhere, blowing off the Windam's right arm at the shoulder. It whirled around, finding Aza's Jet Dagger L charging into the fray with its own carbine raised—

And then a beam shot plowed through its chest, destroying it in a flash of fire. Emily's eyes widened in shock as the flickering flame disappeared—and as soon as it did, her blood ran hot.

"_Aza!_"

The Twilight took off with a flash, arcing down towards the red Ground Windam, still with its carbine victoriously raised. It turned to face the new foe—the Twilight skirted around its blasts and whirled behind it, ripping both of its arms off with a pair of palm cannon blows.

A wave of beams nearly took down the Twilight from above, and with a scowl, Emily took off back into the sky.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

"The _Minerva_ appears to have taken damage to its positron cannon," reported Simmons, the sensor officer. "They've shaken themselves free."

"Fire control, another salvo. Force them back into the port machinery," answered Danilov, and sat back to watch as the _Charlemagne_ threw another wall of firepower into the _Minerva_'s path. It ponderously swung its broken prow towards the ground, smashing through a warehouse and rattling low over the port yards.

"Captain, we're losing mobile suits," Vera warned, her hands tightening at the XO's panel. "Those Gundams are making headway, and Abdulmalik has lost most of his forces. Are we going for the kill yet, sir?"

"The most we need to do is force them out to sea," Danilov said. " Any further damage at this point is a luxury." He glanced over at Ronald, at the fire control station. "Let's see if we can—"

"Captain! The _Minerva_—!"

Danilov fell silent, looking up through the bridge window—to find the _Minerva_ climbing up into the air in a lazy, painful loop—and it was already almost inverted, hovering over his ship's hull. The _Minerva_'s guns angled down—

"_Hard to port!_" Danilov roared. The _Charlemagne_ lurched to the side, groaning in protest as the _Minerva_ opened fire, and the massive warship escaped damage with only a few feet to spare—only to instead go smashing into the rusting machinery of the port below.

As the _Charlemagne_ shuddered to a halt, Danilov looked back up at the sky, where the _Minerva_ was driving through the air, launching retreat flares...and heading out to sea.

Danilov risked a smile.

—

**Phantom Pain, Strait of Hormuz, Indian Ocean**

It was approaching. Yes, it had entered the Persian Gulf, and it was heading south, passing Bahrain. Yes. _Perfect_.

Crayt Markav tried not to grin triumphantly as she watched the blinking symbol for the _Minerva_ heading inexorably southeast on Phantom Island's sprawling tactical map. They were headed straight towards the Strait of Hormuz. Danilov had done his job.

"Marshal," O'Brien said from somewhere to her right, "Danilov reports that he believes he disabled the _Minerva_'s positron cannon and inflicted some damage to it, although he says that he has not confirmed most of it."

"So the prey's wounded first," remarked another voice. Crayt needed not look over to feel the approaching presence of Monique du Prey, airily waltzing into the command room and not bothering with any sort of protocol in the presence of high-ranking officers. "How unsportsmanlike."

"Lieutenant, this insolence—" started O'Brien, face lined in anger. Crayt waved him off.

"Lieutenant du Prey can do as she pleases. She is a professional soldier."

Monique promptly stuck her tongue out at O'Brien, who purpled in rage.

"The _Manhattan_ should be in range soon," Crayt continued, ignoring the seething mass of outrage to her right and the childish glee to her left. "Havilland's fleet will stay with Phantom Island, and the _Charlemagne_ will bring up the rear to trap them."

"Sounds like a plan," chuckled Monique.

Crayt only flashed a feral grin. "God needs no arrow to do His will. Only us."

—

To be continued...


	33. Phase 33: Affairs of the Heart

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 33 - Affairs of the Heart

—

**March 16th, CE 77 - Persian Gulf**

The _Minerva_'s daring escape from that deathtrap in the Shatt al-Arab had been so swift there had been no time for the mobile suits to return to the hangar, leaving the team of Gundams to simply fly alongside their damaged home and wait for the bridge to clear them for landing.

And that left time for reflection.

"Pointless" was the word Emily had been searching for in the quiet moments after the battle, with her battered and bruised Twilight Gundam sailing through the air alongside the smoky _Minerva_. Aza had died back there, but her death had no point to it. She did not die to save the Twilight, or the _Minerva_, or Emily; she did not die defending her country; she died simply because she unluckily exposed herself long enough for the red Windam to seize its chance—and that, really, was all it was—and blow her out of the sky with a lucky shot.

Was that really all this was? Simply a chance to seize, a coincidence of a crosshair passing over someone who just happened to be there, and instinct pulling the trigger? Kyali's death, at least, had been no cruel coincidence—Harris Meyers knew exactly what he was doing when he plunged the Rosso Aegis's beam saber into the Strike E's cockpit.

And, of course, she was the Angel of Death.

The Angel of Death, the one who came to take the lives that must be taken—did that mean she was the symbol of that cruel, unflinching game of chance? And that made her think of all the pilots that had stood against her and died. They had been unlucky as well—they had not turned fast enough, shot true enough, fought precisely enough, and that was all it had taken for Death's hand—_her_ hand—to sever their cords of life.

But this was war, and she could not very well try to destroy the weapons and spare the pilots. That required faith that the soldiers fought only because someone had given them weapons, and once those weapons were gone, they would have no reason to fight. Nonsense. She could not see herself refusing to fight if the Twilight were damaged beyond repair—not now, not knowing that there were friends on the battlefield who needed her help, whatever it was worth. Would those soldiers she fought and killed be any different?

It was times like this, Emily decided, that she hated being the Angel of Death.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Persian Gulf**

"Chaos and Abyss are back in the hangar," came Roxy's voice, subdued from the reality of skirting death. "That's the last of them."

Meyrin sat back and took a small amount of relief. At least _that_ had gone right.

The _Charlemagne_. Her once and future foe. The one enemy who could make her truly fear. She had avoided the worst of its wrath so far, but her ship had not gone unscathed through its hurricanes of firepower. The Tannhäuser was damaged—inoperable, if Abes' men could not repair it on the fly. Jury-rigged parts could only last so long.

And the _Minerva_'s squadron of Gundams, the two-eyed war machines that made her vessel what it was, could not beat back the _Charlemagne_'s pilots. Skilled enough to hold their own, they could not overpower the Gundams—but they did not need to, so long as they could hold the Gundams in check and let the _Charlemagne_ do its worst.

And it did not help that the _Charlemagne_'s captain was toying with her.

Well, no matter—Meyrin could simply get over being toyed with. But her ship, well, it needed parts and it needed a rest. Abes had warned her not to use the Tannhäuser, and his men had only just repaired the three damaged CIWS emplacements. Over the open ocean, there was little reason to hold back, and Meyrin disliked having options closed to her. The _Minerva_ was a powerful ship, but the Alliance had catalogued its every weapon and best possible speed, reaction time, and maneuverability; and that meant she could only surprise her adversaries with new combinations of old tricks.

Meyrin sank back in her chair. Worrying about the positron cannon would not get it fixed—only Abes and his men would get it fixed. She glanced up at the map on the auxiliary screen.

"Burt," she said suddenly, "is our course clear?"

Burt was silent at the sensor console for a moment. "Only a few civilian IFFs," he answered.

"At this speed, we'll reach the Strait of Hormuz in sixty-eight hours," added Abbey. "How are we going to handle it?"

Meyrin glanced at the map—and down sank her heart. The Strait of Hormuz, a natural bottleneck that for years had been an international flashpoint, as vital shipping navigated the narrow passage from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. If she were an Alliance commander, she would have set a trap here long ago.

"There isn't anything there so far," she said cautiously. "We'll approach in Condition Yellow at flank speed, and get through as fast as we possibly can."

Abbey seemed satisfied with that and sat back, and Meyrin could only sigh and wish she felt the same way.

—

Viveka was getting irritated with Athrun Zala.

It was a somewhat embarrassing conclusion to come to, really, and not one that one normally reached while working on the Savior's operating system—in itself a reason to get irritated—and, if the praise routinely lavished upon Athrun Zala was any indication, it was something of a surprise as well. But at the same time, she could not really bring herself to be _too_ surprised. Even the most innocuous of her advances had gone ignored, as the Justice pilot fumbled for words and something in him waged a bitter conflict with the rest of himself.

Her first impulse was to blame herself. After all, she still had burned into her mind the image of the Phantom Pain soldier who had gouged out her eye and told her that no man would ever like her now. Covered in scars that were as much from combat as from the Phantom Pain, wielding a mechanical arm—another gift from Djibril's black-coated minions—and missing an eye, she was hardly the picture of feminine beauty. So that Phantom Pain soldier had probably been right. Everyone was a bit put off by her grizzled appearance.

But the picture of feminine beauty was not much of a fighter, and although Viveka was not confident she could win a beauty pageant, she _was_ confident that she could pretty well kick the ass of anyone who _could_ win a beauty pageant.

Then again, Athrun Zala seemed to respect that. How could he not? He was a warrior, and surely he made a point of protecting her in battle for a reason.

It then struck her that she really did not know much about Athrun Zala. She knew the details that everyone knew—that he was a former ZAFT soldier and the son of its rather maniacal chairman, Patrick Zala, and he had joined the Orb Raiders under the fiery Cagalli Yula Athha. And after their disappearance at Solomon's Sword, he had joined the Resistance and put his powerful Infinite Justice to use against the Earth Alliance. But now she was living with the man—and, truth be told, taking something of a fancy to him—and that demanded more than the essentials.

Unfortunately, getting Athrun Zala to talk about his past was like passing an aircraft carrier through the eye of a needle. But Viveka _did_ certainly love a challenge.

Well, she decided, first things first. The Savior would have to get fixed at some point—and if she let the mechanics do it, they might screw up her radio presets again.

—

**March 17th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Persian Gulf**

"_Minerva_ proceeding southeast, approaching Bahrain in twenty-six hours."

Sitting back in the captain's chair, Danilov mused over the sensor officer's report. If the _Minerva_ was already closing in on Bahrain, then clearly the _Charlemagne_ must not have damaged their engines. But that made no difference—the _Minerva_'s engines would not get it out of the trap in Hormuz.

Either way, his part in this operation had been satisfactory—to him, if no one else. The _Minerva_ was difficult to truly and decisively damage, especially with those Gundams that could take all manner of abuse and keep going. But while the _Minerva_'s armor might be laminate and reinforced, the _Minerva_'s captain was only a human—and humans could be misled.

Now they were walking right into Marshal Markav's trap, and Danilov had to wonder what role he had further to play. Officially, he was to bring up the rear and prevent the _Minerva_ from retreating back into the Gulf, trapping them in the Strait of Hormuz.

But then what? It was hard to believe that even the mighty _Minerva_ would snake its way out of _this_ trap, at least not on its own; and satellite passes and recon flights had turned up no evidence that there was anything approaching the Persian Gulf that could help the _Minerva_.

And if the _Minerva_ perished in Hormuz, then what? The Resistance would surely crumble—it was the _Minerva_ that did its most visible damage, gave its fighters the most hope, and could be relied on to break through where other Resistance units would fail. The Phantom Pain would come crashing down upon the last survivors and sweep off the map all cities that continued to harbor them, and Lord Djibril would reign supreme.

And then what? A world without Coordinators? Djibril had nearly achieved that already. A world politically dominated by the Earth Alliance? Djibril had that already. What was the point of all this? Power for power's sake?

Well, there would be a new enemy. ZAFT, for one, was somewhere out there. And Danilov had spent enough years in this world to know that if Djibril's Alliance ran out of enemies today, they would find a new one tomorrow. There was always somebody for the Phantom Pain to kill.

And so, Danilov found it strange that he was almost hoping the _Minerva_ would escape Hormuz.

—

The problem with Shams Coza, Sven had decided, was that he never knew when to quit. The man had been ranting from his place in the _Charlemagne_'s crew lounge for close to half an hour on the similarities between mobile suit combat and professional wrestling, and Sven—in addition to having no idea how mobile suit combat related to professional wrestling—was tiring of it.

Instead of listening to how the Verde Buster's combined beam cannons were analogous to The People's Elbow, Sven absorbed himself in sober analysis of the past battle. The _Minerva_ and its Gundams might be difficult to defeat if they were allowed to operate as a unit, but if they were split up and rendered incapable of communication, then attrition would have to take its toll. It was a bloody strategy that glutted itself on human flesh, but such was war, and Sven was not going to shy away from a combat tactic just because someone might be killed. The soldier who did that was the soldier who died.

Unfortunately, Sven had made the mistake of not paying the minimum attention required to tell what the conversation's topic was, because when he heard his name and looked up from a printout of the Strike Noir's latest performance tests, it had turned to him.

And that damn cheeky grin on Sham's face just was _never_ a good sign.

"So how's Irene these days?" Shams asked, relishing the immediate discomfort of his nominal commander.

Sven betrayed no outward emotion, though Shams knew better than to fall for the Devil's Saber's poker face. "She is due to report in soon," he answered, "so we will find out then."

"You're such a caring boyfriend," drawled Mudie, not bothering to look up from her drink.

Sven tried to control the eye twitching. "I'm not—"

"Oh, Sven, don't you tire of these high school games?" Shams asked, lifting a melodramatic hand into the air. "Just admit you boned her in Yokosuka last year and we'll let up."

Sven arched an eyebrow at the dark-skinned pilot. "First of all, I did not 'bone' her," he shot back, "and second, even if I had and admitted it, would you ever leave me alone over it?"

"Not even a little."

"Then there's your answer."

"Why can't I have a lover as devoted and caring as you?" asked Mudie. Sven could only sigh—he knew he was screwed if even Mudie had joined in making fun of him.

Instead, he merely sighed and waited for the topic to go back to wrestling. At least Shams was dependable like that.

—

"Did you ever wonder why someone decided that giant robots were the future of warfare?"

Merau looked up in surprise at the sound of Grey's voice, finding him staring distractedly at the face of her Dark Windam, standing next to her on the hangar gantry. "I mean, really," he continued, "why giant robots? Why not, like, space fighters or something? Was it that important to have your combat machine capable of doing the Funky Chicken after a victory?"

Merau arched an eyebrow at her erstwhile companion. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean what's wrong?"

"You never say dumb things like that if you aren't upset."

Grey heaved a sigh and leaned against the gantry railing. "I'd just like to know that I'm making a dent over there on the _Minerva_," he said. "I mean, think of all our comrades, who keep getting shot down and dying. And for all those sacrifices, well, I'd like to know that we're scaring them or something."

"Don't think too hard about it," Merau answered, returning her gaze to the Windam. "Thinking about why you fight just leads you to misery."

"Then that makes it okay to just fight without thinking?" Grey asked back.

"That's what the Extended do."

"Yeah, and look how happy _they_ are."

So much for maintenance on the Windam. Merau looked back up with a sigh. "Grey, just trust me on this. We come up with all sorts of reasons why we kill should each other, but when you sit down and think about them, none of them are really worth it." She bitterly waved her hand. "At least the Extended don't have to worry about _why_ they're killing, and then thinking about it, and then realizing that why they're killing isn't really a good enough reason to go killing. They just kill."

Grey shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Is that all you want to be?"

"Has being human been any better?" She shrugged. "I would have liked to be an Extended in Sofia. Then I wouldn't have had to deal with the realization that all my friends had just gotten themselves killed for something stupid and worthless. I could just do what I had to do to survive."

"What's life worth if all you want is to survive?" Grey asked back.

"More than what it's worth if you want to waste it on some politician's bullshit."

At that, Grey merely sighed. "Well, if you don't want to die for a politician's bullshit, then make up some of your own," he answered. "But I don't want to be an Extended. They're living creatures, but they're not alive."

"Well, we all become Extended in our own way," Merau said, returning her gaze to the Windam. "That's the only way you'll _stay_ alive."

—

**Phantom Island, Strait of Hormuz, Indian Ocean**

Monique du Prey truly loved mobile suits.

True, to most, they were merely military weapons, designed to fulfill a certain purpose on the battlefield. Planes, tanks, helicopters, guns, they all did the same—but no weapon was as purely and deliciously violent as a mobile suit. And that beautiful violence was what made a mobile suit so much more than a mere weapon.

A human being was capable of great destruction. Through weapons, a human being could kill scores of others, could destroy buildings, could even—with skill and the right weapons and a whole lot of luck—bring down one of these mobile suits. But a mobile suit was capable of so much more destruction. With a sweep of its hand, it could topple skyscrapers; with the pull of a trigger, it could annihilate everyone coming out of those skyscrapers; it had speed, it had grace, it had power. It was every bit the killing machine that Monique du Prey sought.

And the Morrigan Gundam was a very exquisite specimen.

She stood on the Morrigan's cockpit hatch, a mechanic standing on the gantry nearby. Most pilots treated their mobile suits as machines, which required instruction to properly operate; not Monique. Her mobile suit was a living thing, a beast that she needed not to operate, but to _tame_; and with taming came control. Her mobile suit had the raw, carnal will to destroy, and the power to make its will reality; but Monique had the mind and the will to harness that power and direct it. And harness it she would.

The mechanic squirmed as Monique traced a finger over the Morrigan's chest armor, relishing the abrupt curves and flat lines as she would a lover's body. "Um, the Armure Lumiere has been retooled—"

"Have you ever piloted one of these things, mister...?" Monique trailed off, scanning the mechanic's jumpsuit for a nametag.

"Young, ma'am," he supplied, after taking a moment to take the hint. "Err, not in a combat situation—"

"It's like having sex."

The mechanic visibly searched for a way to respond to that, and visibly came up with nothing.

"Surely you know what I'm talking about," Monique went on, stretching forward as though she were about to give Mr. Young a demonstration of what she meant. "The connectedness of two lovers in the act of love, moving as one, directing all their passion into an act of sin and pleasure, incomprehensible pleasure. Completely losing their minds, and gaining a mind of their own between them..." She quirked an eyebrow at the mechanic, who looked about ready to leap out of his skin. "When you pilot one of these things and fight in it, you don't think anymore. Your mind disappears, you become part of the mobile suit, and the more you fight in that union, the closer you come to..." She trailed off with a grin. "Well, you know."

"...err, I'll just, uh, let you read the manual, then," Mr. Young stammered, and made a hasty retreat.

Monique smirked. That one _always_ scared them off.

She returned her attention to the Morrigan, caressing the side of its cockpit hatch jamb. Yes, this machine had power, and the will to destroy. After all, it was intended for a soldier who had not only the power and the will to destroy, but the mind to shape that will to her own ends. And while Unit Zero-One had moved on to another mobile suit and left her old war steed in the unfeeling hands of the Eurasian Federation, Project Evolution's spurned lover had found a new mistress.

"It's a shame they treat you like a mere machine, my sweet new Morrigan," she purred, "but I will turn you into a _god_."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Persian Gulf**

"Y'know, most sixteen-year-old girls can't control a mobile suit at all, let alone like this," Meyrin said, standing on the exterior observation deck with Shinn as the _Minerva_ cut forward over the water.

Shinn smirked back. "Well, most nineteen-year-old girls don't command warships either, so you don't have much room to talk."

"That's different," Meyrin said absently, studying the printouts in her hands. "Usually when a girl her age gets press like this, it's because she was kidnapped and murdered." She looked up at Shinn. "Athrun suggested that at some point we should raid Lodonia Island for information."

"That was an Atlantic Federation installation," Shinn replied. "And Emily's Phantom Pain file has her living in the Eurasian Federation all her life. Whoever secretly trained her to be some kind of super-soldier must have been Eurasian."

"Athrun also suggested that they buried all those memories in her brain using Extended technology," Meyrin added, leafing through the papers again. "Sting and Auel told me that the Alliance had the technology to rewrite memories, although it was so time-consuming it was only used on them for special circumstances. Maybe that..."

Shinn sighed quietly. "I guess it's not such a crazy idea," he said, "but Lodonia has been abandoned for years. By now, scavengers and the Junk Guild must have taken whatever the Alliance didn't already taken care of."

"The other installation where we'll find that sort of information is Althea Crater, though," Meyrin answered. "And we are not attacking Althea Crater. We had enough trouble back there." She jabbed a thumb back towards the distant shores of Iraq over her shoulder.

Another sigh escaped Shinn's lips as the conversation died, and he took the opportunity to turn over in his senses Meyrin's emotions. He could not fairly call it fear, but it was certainly apprehension—and anxiousness.

"How is she these days?" Meyrin asked. Shinn scratched his head awkwardly.

"About the same as she was after Karelia," he responded. "Tired. Upset. Drained."

"I can relate," sighed Meyrin. "And how are you?"

"As insane as I always am."

"Good to know." She finally turned her eyes towards the sea. "What are the odds we can get through the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean without being attacked along the way?"

"Astronomically low."

Another tired sigh, and Shinn needed no Newtype senses to tell that Meyrin was not looking forward to trying to brave the odds again. "Then I'll go back to the bridge."

Shinn glanced at the ocean—Stella was probably going to come up here soon, because it was a chance to look at the sea. "Nobody's attacking us _now_," he said. "So nobody will be too upset if you decide to take a break." He glanced back at the girl wrapped in the captain's coat. "Abbey can take care of things herself up there anyway."

Meyrin caught Shinn's smile, and managed to smile back.

—

Rather than install herself on the exterior deck, Stella had chosen to hole up in the interior observation deck and stare pensively at the sea rolling by under the _Minerva_'s wings. Emily was surprised to find her there, having hoped to do some reflection herself—or "angsting," as Auel had scornfully described it—but seeing Stella made it hard for anyone to feel sorry for themselves.

"Oh...hi Emily..." Stella started, with a sad smile. "Stella's looking at the sea..."

Emily cast her eyes out the window, and easily saw why. Gray clouds almost obscured the midday sun, letting only a few scant shafts of light through to reach the gentle waves below—and though the sky looked to promise that those waves would not remain gentle for long, Stella did not appear to mind.

"It's pretty," Emily agreed. Stella nodded slowly, and Emily absently wondered what she had been like before being turned into an Extended.

Stella turned towards Emily, as though an idea occurred to her. "Is Emily sad?"

"Sad? Um, no..."

"Stella thought Emily looked sad," the Extended went on. "Everybody is always sad..."

Emily shifted uncomfortably. If she was getting _Stella_ depressed, then something was really wrong. "I don't think everybody is always sad," she started.

"But they are," Stella insisted. "'cuz everybody always has to fight, but nobody likes it...and then people die, and it makes everyone else sad..." She gave Emily a meaningful look. "Stella doesn't want her friends to be sad. Being friends means making sure they aren't sad."

Emily only smiled. Stella always managed to pull out some kernel of wisdom when it was least expected.

—

**March 18th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Persian Gulf**

"Nice necklace you got there."

Athrun blinked in surprise and looked out of the Infinite Justice's cockpit, where Viveka was leaning against the railing with her mismatched arms crossed and a demon's smirk on her battle-scarred face. He looked down, remembering that he had thrown off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, and found Cagalli's pendant hanging out from beyond the protection of his shirt.

"It was a gift," he said quickly, tucking it away. "From...well, somebody important."

"Athrun Zala succumbs to sentimentality?" laughed Viveka. "So is this somebody important enough for you to keep the necklace, but not important enough to name?"

"It doesn't matter now," Athrun said, turning around again.

"Oh yes it does," shot back Viveka, her smirk disappearing. "It's part of who you are, and you may not have noticed from inside all that armor, but I'm trying to get to know you here. And your past is part of your identity, whether you like it or not." She paused. "I can tell you about _my_ past if it would help."

At last, Athrun turned around, his eyes brooking no disagreement. "My past is not important. It's what I do now that matters."

"To everyone else, maybe," Viveka answered, undeterred. "But nobody else really wants to know about Athrun Zala the man. All they care about is Athrun Zala the Hero." She crossed her arms again. "Y'know I ran away from our asshole father and lived on the lam for a few years? And then after the Junius War, I joined the Resistance. And y'know the Phantom Pain captured me?"

"I know you've had a rough life," Athrun started.

"They held me for six months," she continued. "Beat me, tortured me, raped me, one of them gouged out my eye and another cut off my arm. Eventually some Resistance fighters broke me out when they raided the prison. They gave me a gun, gestured to some captured Phantom Pain guards—and some of them had been torturing me for all those months—and they told me to do what I had to do." She narrowed her eye at Athrun, and he suddenly began to feel even more uncomfortable. "And do you see me moping around over it? No. I'm not going to do that." She got up, walking closer to the Justice pilot. "And you know why? Because they wanted to break me. To ruin me. To turn me into a shell. And if I acted the way you act now, those bastards would have gotten exactly what they wanted. They knew damn well that even if I ever escaped, I'd have to carry a mechanical arm and all these scars for the rest of my life, and you know what? They aren't going to slow me down one damn bit." Finally, she planted her mismatched hands on Athrun's shoulders. "I'm willing to bet that my life has been a lot fucking worse than yours, so what's your excuse for carrying a torch this long?"

Athrun was rather surprised to hear his father's voice, of all voices, advising him on the answer. "I've always fought for a cause more important than my own life—"

"Bullshit!" Viveka cried. "The whole _point_ of all this fighting is so that people can have their own lives! You're a Coordinator, for Christ's sake, you're fighting for your _own_ life here!"

At that, Athrun decided that further argument would get him nowhere. "My past isn't exciting enough to justify all these theatrics," he said.

"_I'll_ be the judge of that."

Athrun pulled the pendant back out, gazing down at it for an instant. Was this really what Cagalli wanted? It was certainly what Viveka wanted—but Athrun failed her once before, so how could he abandon her again?

"So who gave that to you?" Viveka asked. Athrun closed his fist around the stone.

"Cagalli."

"Cagalli? Cagalli Yula Athha?" Viveka scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "So, um, I guess you two were pretty close...?"

"You could say that," Athrun said, tucking the pendant away again.

"But, she died in the Battle of Orb, didn't she?"

Viveka needed no superhuman powers of empathy to see the nerve she was striking, but Athrun cut her off with a wave of his hand. "She died at Orb, and everyone else died at Solomon's Sword." He looked back up at her. "Is that knowledge enough about Athrun Zala the man?"

"It wouldn't have hurt so bad if you'd just sat still," Viveka replied with a grin.

—

Sting was thankful for the confluence of loud noises in the _Minerva_'s hangar, because they drowned out all the cursing.

At least, all the cursing that came from someone other than Auel Neider.

The blue-haired Extended was standing on the gantry near the Abyss Gundam's outstretched left arm, swearing up a storm at the mechanics who were working on the arm's upper actuator. To the Abyss's right, the Chaos stood silently by, taking it all in neutrally—although the same could not be said of its pilot, standing on the cockpit hatch and getting more annoyed by the minute.

"Charming fellow, isn't he," sighed someone. Sting glanced over his shoulder, at Yolant on the gantry, leaning wearily against the railing. "Where'd you dig him up again?"

"Lodonia," Sting answered. "Somebody else did the digging and dropped him in my lap, and I've been pulling his ass out of certain doom ever since."

"Has he always been this—" Yolant paused to wince at a particularly anatomically impossible epithet— "um, verbose?"

"Nah, he learned to cuss from some guys who were blasting early 21st century rap music in the barracks." A smirk crossed his lips. "Though he quickly learned not to repeat _all_ of the words he heard in them." Sting turned back towards the Chaos, rubbing his temples. "Behind all the swearing and screaming, though, I'm pretty sure there's a heart in there or something. Or something."

"That's what sucks about people, huh," Yolant agreed. "You dig and dig through all their worst traits to reach the core of who they are, and only then do you discover that they really are just raging assholes."

Sting snickered. "That sounds like something Auel would say."

"Abes says I need to be more surly and sarcastic," Yolant said, finally getting up. "So I learn from the best."

—

Friendship was a funny thing to Emily von Oldendorf, and naturally, she had to ponder it while wandering out to the _Minerva_'s exterior observation deck. Stella had defined it reasonably enough—friends looked out for each other. And she was more than willing to look out for everyone else; and, it seemed, everyone else was willing enough to look out for her. So in that sense, she had many friends, and many of them happened to pilot eighteen-meter-tall war machines. But—

Her thoughts trailed off at the muffled sounds of gunshots. The airlock door swung open with a rush of pressurized air, and Emily looked out to the center of the deck, where a tall man in black was firing a handgun studiously at a paper target on a wheeled cart.

Rau Le Creuset glanced over his shoulder as he reloaded the pistol. "Ah, Miss Oldendorf," he began. "Fancy meeting you out here. I hope I didn't startle you."

"Um, I'll just go back in," Emily started.

"No need," Rau waved her off. "Just stay out of my line of fire and you'll be fine."

Emily nervously moved over to the railing, watching Rau at work. The gun should have jumped in his hands with each shot, but his hand remained like iron and with each shot the recoil barely made him flinch—and instead, each bullet tore through the target sheet in a spot approximating a lethal wound on a human body. Spent shells went flying, and Rau snapped his wrist back, ejecting one clip and replacing it with a fluid motion, before returning to the target.

"So tell me," he said, even as he effortlessly shredded his defenseless target sheet, "what brings you out here?"

Emily squirmed as she contemplated the prospect of trying to carry on a conversation over gunfire. "Just tired..."

"Tired, ah, yes," Rau said with a grin. "A common affliction among young soldiers."

"I'm not a soldier," Emily started.

"Oh, not _formally_," Rau corrected. "But clothes and titles and ceremonies don't make a soldier." He paused to squeeze off another shot, neatly planting it in the center of the target sheet's head. "Besides, what you have is power."

Emily shrugged. "I guess."

"You sell yourself short," chuckled the masked man, firing off the last bullet and setting aside the gun to turn towards the younger pilot. "I'm sure I need not remind you of all the things you've seen in your time with the _Minerva_. The cruelty of the Phantom Pain, the foolishness of the Resistance? Don't those things anger you?"

No such reminder was necessary. Emily eyed Rau carefully. "They do," she said, "but what am I supposed to do about them?"

Rau grinned.

"Everything."

"...what? Everything—?"

"You see, Miss Oldendorf, this power of yours is vast," Rau continued. "And indeed, you are content to use it to assist your friends on this ship in combat. But," his smiling turned wicked, "don't you want more?"

Emily suddenly felt cold, and shivered, but felt no breeze. "What else...is there?"

Rau turned again, grinning wildly. "There are many steps we must follow to show you," he said. The masked man extended his hand to her, still grinning, and Emily felt even colder. "So to start with, let me acquaint you with someone you once knew and have forgotten...Unit Zero-One."

—

To be continued...


	34. Phase 34: A Soldier's Duty

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 34 - A Soldier's Duty

—

**March 18th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Persian Gulf**

Emily tensed as though struck by a fist, whirling around to face the masked man. "How do you—?"

"There is nothing that can be concealed from a mind that wants to know badly enough," Rau cut her off with a chuckle. "It was not mere chance that led you into the cockpit of a mobile suit, but destiny. You were meant to be there."

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked.

"What I'm talking about, dear Emily, is something called Project Evolution," laughed Rau. "Do you not remember your father's deep ties to the military? Surely you do; the generals and admirals who visited his home, and their cold soldiers' eyes boring holes into your skull."

Emily shivered as instead of the soldiers, she saw her father, most terrifying of all, throwing her to the ground on the night her mother died and ordering her to be quiet.

"And surely there are gaps in your memory," Rau continued. "Don't you want to know what happened?"

"How do you know all this?"

Rau grinned. "I do my homework." He continued with a laugh. "But are these really the questions you want to ask? I'm sure you want to know even more urgently...what _are_ you?"

Emily's guarded but no less disbelieving stare was all the prompting Rau needed.

"A military project, based around mysterious mental powers that made their user an unstoppable force on the battlefield. A bureaucrat with much to gain and little to lose. Remove the ethics and this equation leads to you." He turned his hidden eyes toward the sea. "You were the culmination of a project to harness your mother's latent Newtype potential. Your sister was the first attempt, but ended in failure. So here you are." He grinned. "They gave you _power_, to change the world if you so desire. To remake it any way you want."

"I don't want to change the world," Emily started.

"Of course you do!" laughed Rau. "Are you really happy with a world in which the Phantom Pain can slaughter civilians with impunity, and the Resistance that was born to stop them fights among itself instead? You would have fled in Murmansk long ago if that were the case. You want to change the world or else you would not be here. So you will have to learn to use that power."

Emily blanched and turned back towards the airlock. "I don't believe that."

"You will," Rau chuckled as she left.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Persian Gulf**

It was not the callous orders she gave that made Ivan Danilov hate Crayt Markav so much. From a certain perspective, even the orders he gave were callous. It was that damned _religion_ of hers.

"The _Manhattan_ will be sacrificed to delay the _Minerva_," Markav explained. "In the meantime, Captain Fujikawa on the _Senegal_ will move into position. He has a special weapon to soften the _Minerva_ up before the fleet moves in for the kill."

"Is the _Manhattan_ receiving any support?" Danilov asked.

"No need," responded Markav with an imperious wave of her hand. "They are a sacrifice. God demands sacrifice from all of us, captain."

Danilov paused, beginning to feel sick. "Marshal, it is not a sacrifice on our part—"

"If God could sacrifice His only son for our sake, we can sacrifice some Navy regulars for His," Markav answered. "They go to a better place than this anyway. God rewards His soldiers."

Danilov said nothing; what more could be said?

"Keep the _Charlemagne_ on the _Minerva_'s rear and pressure them into our trap," Markav instructed. "When the fleet engages, sweep in behind them, and together we will crush them. Phantom Island, out."

The screen went dark, and Danilov sat back with a sigh. He glanced over at Vera, still looking disturbed by the marshal's words.

She turned around at the feeling of being watched. "Captain," she started awkwardly, "are we going to support the _Manhattan_ anyway?"

"My hands are tied now that the marshal is involved," Danilov answered. "I can't ignore her orders."

Vera glanced towards the sea again. "Even orders that are evil...?" she asked quietly.

Danilov closed his eyes. "Especially orders that are evil."

"Captain, we need to file a complaint with the president's office," Vera went on. "Lord Djibril is the only one with the clout to rein in these abuses."

Danilov suppressed his laugh. Corruption at the top could not be solved by complaining to the top. "This isn't a problem that an internal review will solve," he said. "For now we must endure. We will follow the marshal's orders and continue driving the _Minerva_ into our trap."

And, Danilov silently hoped, even if they were destroyed in Hormuz, they would take the marshal with them to hell.

—

"_Are you fucking kidding me?_"

Grey and Merau both winced simultaneously as they stepped into the _Charlemagne_'s crew lounge, where they found themselves at the edge of a hurricane of profanities. At the eye of the storm was 1st Lieutenant Shams Coza, who looked about ready to break his cue stick between his teeth. Mudie was on the other side of the table, looking thoroughly bored as Shams began his tirade anew.

"Are you fucking telling me that I can't win this game _ONCE?_" Shams cried. "What the fuck is this? I hit the ball, see, watch me now—" He bent over, pulling the stick back with his right hand— "and it hits the ball—" He thrust the stick forward, smacking the cue ball near the top and moving it barely an inch forward, nowhere near the other balls— "_AND THAT ALWAYS FUCKING HAPPENS!_ _What the fuck?_ It's, like, statistically impossible!"

"Don't blame the laws of probability for your totally sucking at this game," Mudie drawled, before sending the number eleven ball neatly spiraling into the corner pocket.

"_GODDAMMIT!_" roared Shams, flinging his cue stick across the room—

"Hey!" exclaimed Grey, ducking as the stick almost smacked up across the face. Shams blinked and glanced over at the door.

"Oh, uh, sorry," he started. "Oh, you're the two kids who just won't die, huh."

"Well, I came close just now," Grey muttered, standing back up.

"Um, are we interrupting something...?" started Merau. Mudie only laughed coquettishly.

"Just Shams getting his ass kicked."

"_Fuck you!_ I hate this game. We're playing _Monopoly_ next time!"

Grey and Merau edged over to the vending machine, wary of more flying billiards supplies. "So, um, that's the Devil's Spear and Devil's Shield?" he asked quietly.

—

The door locked shut with a click as Sven sat down to his computer terminal, sitting back and letting the screen flicker to life. Irene was there, but noticeably absent was her Phantom Pain uniform—although instead, to Sven's slight relief, she was in an elegantly tasteless evening gown.

"Sorry I couldn't get back to you right away," she breathed, slumping down into her chair. "I swear he has one of these fucking cocktail parties every night."

Sven arched an eyebrow, hoping it would impart his impatience. "I believe you have some information to relay?"

"What, you're not going to wine and dine me first?"

"Not the time to test my patience, lieutenant."

Irene blew out an airy sigh. "If you insist." She produced a manila folder from somewhere off-camera. "Twenty years or so ago this Gerhardt guy was a lot further down the military bureaucracy totem pole, and he realized that his wife was showing strange powers of empathy and precognition. Like any sensitive 90s kind of guy, he brought in a wave of military scientists to poke and prod her, and realized that he was sitting on a gold mine. His wife couldn't withstand all the testing so they had a daughter, but she didn't exhibit those traits that the mother possessed; so they waited four years, and had another daughter. Sixteen years ago." She grinned. "Hey, just off the top of your head, you know how old Emily von Oldendorf is?"

Sven blinked as it set in. "You're kidding."

"I kid not, Sven baby. Dear sweet little Emily was set up for Project Evolution, designed to take advantage of her powers. So it turns out Gilbert Dullindal wasn't the only one doing research into Newtypes."

"But twenty years before Dullindal's speech..." Sven trailed off. "Was this a high secret?"

"They kept it filed along with the nuclear launch codes and the prime minister's favorite pizza joint," laughed Irene.

"Then what went wrong?"

Irene snapped open the folder, scanning it for a moment. "Says here that she progressed very quickly, to the point where her handlers felt confident that she could take down the Freedom and Kira Yamato if given a comparable machine. But she turned out unstable, because her age meant her brain and body were still developing, and you can't really train a ten-year-old to exceed special forces standards without something going wrong. So Gerhardt, ever the loving and sensitive father, shipped her off to the household of Lord Djibril to be a domestic servant, where it was expected no one would find her, and they would reinforce her training every once in a while using Extended technology."

"Then why was she so unskilled in battle against Shoyou?"

"That's the fun part. She's only sixteen, remember? They were going to leave her in Djibril's household until she was eighteen, when it was calculated that her body and brain would be mature enough for combat service. But our mutual friend the Wings of Light kinda fucked that all up, didn't he?"

Sven paused to consider the implications. "Are you saying we have this insane teenage girl in a Gundam shooting down all our aces?"

"Well, when you put it _that_ way..." chuckled Irene. "Really, though, wasn't it a great idea to start giving weapons of mass destruction to emotionally unstable teenagers? Because what's even _more_ fun is that because she's all messed up and got dragged into combat before she was ready, her abilities are naturally developing now. The release of all that adrenaline and whatever else starts churning in your brain kick-started her development. Now she's going to get more and more sensitive, and more and more insane."

A comforting thought if there ever was one, but one loose thread remained. "What about her mother?"

Irene blinked. "What _about_ her mother?"

"What happened to her?"

The blonde lieutenant consulted her folder again. "Says she died of a sudden infection in CE 68. Why?"

Sven sat back, hand on his chin. "Minister Oldendorf would not have allowed his wife's genetic material to simply die. Not if he went to the trouble and risk of having two children with a gravely ill woman simply to produce a child with her Newtype traits."

"Are you saying he cloned her?" Irene asked.

"It's not unheard of," answered Sven. "It would be the surest way to preserve her genetic material and its context. Did you learn of any clones of his wife?"

Irene scanned her folder once more. "No," she answered at last, "but what good would it do us anyway?"

Sven's eyes darkened. "If the Resistance could figure out how to use Emily against us," he said, "then so could someone else."

—

**Heaven's Base, Iceland**

Arms dealers and senators were a dime a dozen, but the truly treasured minions were those who served _you_, and not just your institution. And Lord Djibril had a few of those minions.

Behind him was one such minion, Misa Tsunomi, standing by silently while Djibril took in the view from his cavernous office at Heaven's Base. It was his world and his power, all in the palm of his hands. The best minions knew in whose palms that power rested, and bowed to those hands—and no other.

"Misa," Djibril began, glancing over his shoulder, "I trust you took care of it?"

A sharp nod. "Senator Meyers' dossier is on your desk, sir."

Perfection, as always. "And they say Coordinators are the best workers," he chuckled. "Ah well. I can purge the world of its evils, or I can be loved and cherished by the masses, but I can't do both." He shrugged and turned around at last. "I presume Marshal Markav's trap is soon to be sprung?"

"The _Minerva_ is en route in the Persian Gulf," answered Misa.

"And how should I punish the Marshal should she fail?"

Misa blinked in surprise. "Sir...?"

"I'm not a man who likes to dwell on the past," Djibril said airily, flashing a toothy grin. "However, I'm also not one to tolerate _repeated_ failures."

"But sir, I must confess I find it hard to believe that the Marshal's trap could _fail_," Misa protested. "Even if not all goes as planned, the sheer force of numbers she's amassed...how could anyone survive against that?"

"Contingency plans are my bread and butter, Misa," Djibril explained with a shrug. "The thing that seems least possible is more often than not the thing you should have prepared the most for. Besides," he turned back towards his sweeping view, "I'm beginning to doubt the wisdom in placing Marshal Markav in command of the Phantom Pain."

Misa's surprised silence prompted him to continue.

"I've always found that those with as strong a faith in God as hers lose their grip on reality," he went on. "On the assumption that God will fill in the gaps they leave in their reasoning. But that's not how it works. God did not sweep down and build this Earth Alliance and drive the Coordinators to exile on Mars; _I_ did. And now, God does not rule this world; _I_ do." He grinned back at Misa. "Humans are gods in their own right, after all."

"Do you believe the marshal is plotting against you?" asked Misa.

Djibril shrugged again. "She may be, but I trust you will keep me abreast of such developments should they occur. If she is planning something, I imagine it has more to do with her twisted faith than with power or anything else." He waved his hand imperiously. "Let her scheme, if she thinks she can."

"I will report to you if I uncover a plan," answered Misa.

Lord Djibril grinned once more. "Soon this world won't need Marshal Markav, or the Phantom Pain, or Newtypes. Soon we will have _order_...and after that, what else do we need?"

—

**Phantom Island, Strait of Hormuz, Indian Ocean**

"_От имени отца, и Сына, и Святого Духа_."

Crayt Markav rose from prayer just as the door of her office swung open, and she turned to find Monique du Prey blasting into her office with all the subtlety of a tornado.

"Crayt, _darling_, you're just _too_ kind," she laughed, spitting in the face of any and all protocol to lovingly throw her arms around the Field Marshal. "That Morrigan you gave me is absolutely _divine_. It makes a Windam look like a brick."

"And I am thrilled for you," grunted Crayt, shoving the lieutenant off. "Is that all you are here for?"

"Well, no," Monique said with a shrug and a pout. "No, I'm actually here to get a question answered."

Crayt straightened her uniform and contemplated retreating behind her desk. "And that is...?"

"You remember that clone that Gerhardt made of his wife?" Monique went on, hopping up onto Crayt's desk and kicking her legs idly like a child. "Whatever happened to it?"

Crayt's eyes darkened behind her shades. "It was on a freighter bound for Althea Crater when the ship was attacked. The clone's whereabouts are unknown."

"I thought so," Monique went on. "Just wanted to make sure all my shit's together. I wouldn't want to taunt Unit Zero-One with _falsehoods_ or anything." A thought occurred to her. "Hey, you want me to capture her?"

"Colonel Meyers tried that once before and it ended disastrously," answered Crayt. "I'm in no mood to repeat that disaster."

"Well, Colonel Meyers was only there because of his father anyway," Monique said airily. "Seriously, you think we could talk her into jumping ship?"

"Just focus on destroying her," Crayt said. "We don't need her."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Persian Gulf**

As expected, Oliver Wellington was a bear of a man, and Meyrin was very glad that he was only on the monitor and not standing before her, or else she would feel even more intimidated. He wore a purple ZAFT uniform, stroking his coarse beard thoughtfully as he listened to Meyrin outline her ship's precarious position. He was the commandant of the former ZAFT base at Carpentaria, and if all went as planned, she would be meeting him in person soon enough.

"You wouldn't be Captain Hawke of the _Minerva_ if you weren't getting yourself into trouble somehow, would you?" chuckled Wellington, sitting back in his chair in whatever room he was in, Meyrin could not tell. "We have yet to make a detailed sweep of the area, so I can't say for certain if there's nothing in your path when you navigate the Strait of Hormuz."

Meyrin suppressed a sigh. "We could escape over land, I suppose, but we'd probably have to deal with the Qatar base instead."

"We'll be waiting for you in the Indian Ocean," Wellington added. "I have some men at sea conducting maneuvers and testing a new Mirage Colloid system for surface ships. I'll give them the order to head into Hormuz and offer you what help they can." He offered a grim salute. "Wellington, out."

The screen darkened, and Meyrin sat back with a sigh. Abbey leaned forward against the captain's chair, lost in thought.

"Captain, what if we veered east over Iran?" she asked.

"Tehran Air Base would chew us apart," Meyrin answered. "Or they'd push us down into the Himalayas, and the last time we tried to navigate a mountain range while avoiding detection, we almost lost a wing."

Abbey cringed. _That_ was not fun to remember. "Well, we can get through Hormuz at flank speed," she went on, "but there are a lot of bases we'll be cutting it close to. Dubai, for one."

"We'll worry about that when we get there," Meyrin replied. "We should be able to dart through if we stay at best possible speed."

Meyrin hated not having faith in her own commands.

—

Emily was beginning to grow disturbed at all the time she spent pensively staring at the horizon on the _Minerva_'s various observation decks. It was as though she was turning into Stella.

Here, however, she had time to come to grips with the terrifying words Rau had spoken to her earlier, staring anxiously at the setting sun. She knew her father had been cruel; she knew her life had gaps that her memory could not fill; she knew that at some point in her past, she had been trained as some sort of mobile suit pilot; but how could that all fit together the way he said it did? Was it really true that she was supposed to be some army's trump card?

And what did it say now that she had escaped her Alliance caretakers, and she was _still_ some army's trump card? She certainly did not want to be a soldier or an ace mobile suit pilot, and yet now she was known as the Angel of Death—as _his_ Angel of Death.

"You know," a voice said, and Emily whirled around in surprise to find Shinn Asuka emerging onto the deck from the airlock, "it's hard to brood when everybody else can _feel_ you brooding from a mile away."

Emily blushed and turned her eyes back towards the sea. "Sorry..."

"We'll live," Shinn answered with a shrug, coming to a stop next to her.

Emily glanced over at the man known by so many intimidating nicknames. Had _he_ chosen to live this way? She had not chosen to be a soldier, but he took so naturally to combat and fought not only with the skill and precision of experience, but of a man whose purpose was fulfilled at the end of that massive anti-ship sword.

"Shinn...um, I have a question," she started. Shinn glanced inquisitively at her. "Did you...um, choose to be a soldier?"

The traitor Asuka looked back towards the sea again and shrugged. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"It's only the past," Shinn said, with a wave of his hand. "It's not that important."

Emily pursed her lips. "It is to me."

Shinn studied his protégé's face for a moment and sighed. "All you need to know is that I lived in Orb and my family died during the first invasion," he said. "And the only place for an orphaned Coordinator to go was ZAFT. So technically, I _chose_ to be a soldier, but my other choice was to be hunted down and killed by Blue Cosmos." He scowled contemptuously at the horizon. "So a whole lot has changed, huh?"

"Did you choose to fight for the Resistance?" Emily asked.

Silence reigned for a moment. "Yeah," Shinn finally agreed. "I guess I can't bitch about that. Why do you ask?"

Emily buried her face in her hands. "I was...thinking about my father...and what he wanted me to be." A pause, and she shook her head. "I don't want to be this."

"I thought you were going to be _the_ Angel of Death and not _his_ Angel of Death," Shinn said.

"But I don't want to be either," protested Emily.

Shinn considered her for a moment and shrugged. "I never wanted to be the 'traitor Asuka,'" he replied. "But people kept calling me that anyway. So after a while I just stopped caring."

"Is that what I'm supposed to do?"

"Well, it's better than worrying about it. If you're not going to change it either way, then who cares?"

That was hard to argue with. But was it really a choice if the second option was unacceptable?

Emily leaned forward on the railing and wondered if it was worth it to stop caring.

—

Reloading the Abyss Gundam's various solid projectile weapons was a boring task, but it had to be done. And so, Auel Neider stood at the mobile suit crane controls, tiredly guiding another set of shells into the Abyss's right-hand shoulder ammo compartment. Necessary, perhaps...but still boring as all hell.

Auel glanced over at the sound of footsteps on the gantry, finding Stella wandering towards him, blank-eyed as usual. "Hey Stella," he said, turning back to his work. "What are you doing out here?"

"Stella's bored," she answered, before rearing back for a gargantuan yawn.

Auel glanced away and tried not to yawn himself. Stella was far too much of a child for Auel's patience, and though he was more than willing to protect her—as though he needed to, he thought—he was not so willing to try to carry on a conversation with her. Athrun, he could handle, broody and boring as he was; Sting, well, that asshole would be lost without him; Shinn was tolerable; Roxy was insane to drink as much liquor as she did, but unless she had been drinking heavily beforehand, she was otherwise intelligible; Rau and Viveka were alright as well. But Stella just tried his patience, and it made him feel a bit guilty because other people managed to get along with her without clenching their teeth in frustration.

Auel glanced back at her again, finding her staring pensively up at the Abyss's face.

"What is it, Stella?" he asked, kicking himself as he did.

"Is Auel mad?" she replied, after a few moments' pause.

Auel turned his eyes back towards the controls, switching the shell set to the left side of his trusty Gundam. "I'm not mad, I'm just tired," he said wearily. "Why do you ask?"

"Stella wants all her friends to be okay," came the reply.

In her own way, she still cared. "Well, I'll go take a nap after I'm done with this," he said, "but you shouldn't worry about us, Stella. We can take care of ourselves."

Stella paused for a moment, in search of words. "That's what friends do," she answered.

—

"_Ow ow fucking ow!_"

Abes glanced over from the gantry into the Savior's cockpit, where Viveka was doubled over in pain and clutching her left arm.

"What is it?" he asked. Viveka cursed a bit more before glancing back up at him.

"You ever dropped a wrench or something on your arm?" she asked back. Abes shrugged.

"All the time. Why?"

"Well, maybe you can't understand because your arm is made of flesh and bone and not metal," she explained, "but it's a lot worse than just a bruise or something when it makes your arm fucking _vibrate!_"

Abes tried to laugh under his breath and not out loud. Unfortunate as her infirmity may be, it was still funny, and damned if Matt Abes was going to fail to laugh at that which was funny. "Such a thought will see me through the next time I stub my toe or pinch my finger or something."

"Very funny, asshole," shot back the elder Oldendorf sister as she loosed her death-grip on her shoulder. "I _hate_ it when that happens."

"Y'know they use stem cells and stuff to grow clones of parts like arms," Abes said, turning back towards the Savior with a laptop in hand. "And they have surgeries and drugs that can reattach the nerves. How come you went with the metal one?"

"Best I could get on short notice," Viveka answered. She paused, flexing the mechanical fingers in front of her. "Besides, I can't complain too much. I mean, I have the meanest left hook in the world now."

"Remind me to bring you to my next bar fight, then," Abes drawled. "Did you load the CIWS yet, or did someone else?"

"Athrun did."

"Athrun did? He fixes your mobile suit now?"

Viveka laughed, with only a hint of bitterness. "Most guys give their girlfriends flowers or chocolate or something to show that they care. Not Athrun Zala. He fixes my Gundam for me."

Abes blinked. "Wait, girlfriend? I don't keep up with the drama around here, but when did this happen?"

"It didn't," grumbled the red-haired girl, her voice disembodied as she reached back behind the Savior's cockpit seat. "I chewed him out for being an emotional recluse, and he proved me wrong by continuing to be an emotional recluse." A sigh drifted out from the rear of the cockpit. "I mean, three years on and he still acts like it's all his fault that the Orb Raiders were wiped out."

Abes scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Look, I don't want to get myself in the middle of your little love story, so I'll just say this," he sighed. "Athrun Zala is a soldier above all else. He's been taught since he was a little kid that duty is everything, and that it's expected of him to abandon his own emotions and bow to a greater cause than himself. So he's just not going to give up on his old friends."

Silence was all that came back from the cockpit for a moment, before something clanged behind the cockpit seat. "_Goddammit!_" Viveka yelled.

"Now what?"

"It does this when I bang it against something metal too! _Ow!_"

Abes merely smirked to himself. "Cloned parts don't do this, is all I'm saying," he chuckled.

"_Fuck you!_"

—

**March 19th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance **_**Onogoro**_**-class aircraft carrier **_**Manhattan**_**, Persian Gulf**

How was a soldier supposed to approach a suicide mission?

That was the question on the mind of Lieutenant Commander Cruz Martinez, captain of the _Manhattan_ as it sliced forward through the waves towards a fateful encounter with the Resistance's pride and joy, the _Minerva_. He could tell what was going on here. He was a sacrificial lamb, with emphasis on the "sacrificial" part, intended to slow the _Minerva_ down while the Phantom Pain moved the final pieces into position for its death trap for the _Minerva_ in the Strait of Hormuz. Marshal Markav had not even bothered to sugarcoat that reality—nor had she shown any restraint in using her full authority as the commander of the Phantom Pain to send him on this mission.

He had been underway for two days now and he had spent his time thinking. Military history showed him a wealth of examples of men who went into combat knowing that they would not come out alive. But the dreaded _kamikaze_ pilots of the Empire of Japan had a reason to die—their war was going poorly and they were convinced that to die for their emperor was the greatest of all things they could do.

What was his sacrifice going to do? He would buy time for the Phantom Pain to finish setting its trap in Hormuz. It was very humbling to know that you were being sent to die not for your country, your cause, or your people, but because somebody else needed to move some pieces into place.

"Captain, the _Minerva_ is two hours out," the sensor officer reported. "The MS deck reports that all units are ready."

Martinez held back a sigh. Even if he had to die, he would certainly go down fighting.

"Send the mobile suits out on the Four Wings formation," he ordered, sitting back and draping one leg over another. "Begin the operation."

—

To be continued...


	35. Phase 35: Gamma Glipheptin

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 35 - Gamma Glipheptin

—

**March 19th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Persian Gulf**

The night sky was filled with stars, but by now Emily von Oldendorf knew better than to trust that each of those points of light was really a ball of flaming gas millions of light-years away. After all, some of them were getting closer.

The Twilight Gundam lurched out of the _Minerva_'s hangar and into the cold night air, and fell into formation next to the rest of the _Minerva's _squadron of Gundams. A force of mobile suits were on the horizon, approaching under the cover of darkness—although the night sky had not hidden them from the _Minerva's_ watchful eye. Roxy had counted twenty-four mobile suits total, but Shinn did not seem convinced—and that was what made Emily the most nervous.

Evidently, Meyrin agreed. "Auel, take the Abyss underwater," she ordered, her voice crackling through the radio. "If there's an underwater force, engage it; if not, set up for an ambush."

"If you say so," Auel said, and the Abyss abruptly transformed and dropped into the water.

Emily scanned the skies ahead of her—six teams of four Jet Windams each, all seeming to wait for the Gundams to make the first move. The Infinite Justice edged ahead of her.

"They aren't breaking formation yet," Athrun observed, "so we'll fire the first shot. Stella!"

The Gaia swung its rifle up into position and opened fire, spearing a shot across the sky and forcing the Windams to break ranks.

Emily cracked her knuckles—time for work.

The Windams returned fire in spades, and the Gundams broke off their own formation, spreading out. Emily glanced up at the Destiny and followed as it lunged up into the air, showering the Windam formation with more beam fire. Shinn's face appeared on the side monitor.

"We're splitting now," he said. "Come with me."

The Destiny and Twilight rocketed forward, and the Destiny's wings of light came to life with a flash, the Gundam drawing its Arondight sword and charging.

"Break the center of the formation," Shinn instructed, "and wheel around to hit them from behind!"

Emily pursed her lips. _He_ made it look easy.

The Twilight leveled off its beam rifle and opened fire, pulling back as two squads of Windams broke off to attack the two Gundams with the wings of light. Shinn was upon them instantly, forcing them apart with a devastating sword blow, and one squad of the Windams turned their attention to him—but the remaining four kept coming towards the Twilight.

"You should have just run," whispered Emily, pulling back to draw her left-hand beam boomerang, "because I won't show any mercy!"

—

Athrun Zala could feel his enemy's desperation as the backpedaling Windam abandoned its ruined beam rifle and hurled a Stiletto penetrator into the Infinite Justice's face. He grunted as the weapon exploded and sent his Gundam jolting back—only for the Savior to lunge through the smoke an instant later and put its saber through the Windam's cockpit, wiping it out.

"You always need my help, Zala-boy," cackled Viveka, even as the Savior leapt backward and deflected a return volley with its shield.

The Windams broke ranks again, this time to avoid a torrent of beam fire from the Legend Gundam, which stormed into the fray to drive the attackers back.

"Radar confirms an enemy mothership just over the horizon," intoned Rau. "I volunteer myself to destroy it."

"Really now," grunted Athrun, forming up beside the two Gundams and waiting for the Windams to expose themselves and attack again. "4000 out?"

"4000 out," Rau confirmed, with a Cheshire grin. "Don't you trust me?"

"Not in the slightest," snapped Athrun. "Get going. Viveka, cover him."

The Legend burst forward, deflecting blasts with its beam shields and spiraling over the Windams' heads. As two of them turned to open fire, the Savior gunned them down with an effortless plasma cannon blast, and the two remaining Gundams rocketed apart to avoid the return fire.

"Someday you're gonna have to tell me what's got your panties in such a wad over that guy," Viveka said, as the two Gundams formed up for another attack.

Athrun ground his teeth. "Attack Pattern Nu! We'll cut through the center!"

The two Gundams jetted apart, and the Savior lined up with its plasma cannons deployed.

"You'd better be careful," Viveka warned. "I'd hate to mess up that pretty face of yours."

Athrun grunted as the Infinite Justice slid into position. "That wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to my face. _Go!_"

—

A shimmering beam blast lanced across the ocean surface and pounded its way through a Windam's cockpit, blowing it out of the sky. The seven remaining Windams tightened up their formation, settling as close as possible to the phalanx formation that afforded them increased defense through overlapping shields—only for the Chaos Gundam's gunbarrels to drive them apart again. In the Chaos, charging forward with the Gaia to the rear, Sting smirked at his scattering enemies and pulled his gunbarrels back.

"Stella—" he started, and an instant later another blast came streaking through the air to punch a second Windam out of the sky. Sting glanced over his shoulder—the Gaia was set up far enough away to blow enemies out of the sky with its beam rifle, sniper scope extended. And that left Sting free...

The Chaos roared forward, breaking the Windam formation apart. One of the six remaining Windams braved the Chaos' gunbarrels, beam saber drawn—only to break in two when Sting planted one of his beam cockpits in the center of the Windam's chest. And before it could explode, he swung the Chaos' leg to the right, hurling the broken Windam at one of its compatriots. The five survivors broke ranks, pulling back and pummeling the Chaos' shield with beam fire—

And an instant later, a blue streak came bursting out of the water, and with a flash, the Abyss Gundam tore two of the Windams from the sky with a ruthless volley of beam blasts. The three survivors fled upwards, only for one of them to be picked off by Stella's unflinching rifle.

Sting sneered over at the Abyss as it fell into formation next to the Chaos. "Took you long enough."

"Fuck you, you ever hear of water resistance?" Auel shot back. "Let's do this shit!"

—

Diving through the air by the momentum of its imposing anti-ship sword, the Destiny whirled through the sky to chop in two another unfortunate Windam. Even as its bisected remains erupted in fire, the Destiny lunged from the smoke to squeeze off a shot from its long range cannon, forcing the rest of the Windams on the defensive.

This was why Emily always felt nervous fighting near Shinn. It was hard not to feel self-conscious about her own combat skills.

The Twilight charged, slapping aside a volley of beam rifle shots and drawing a saber, bursting into close quarters and bringing the blade down on the first Windam's shields. The other four Windams pulled back—only for one of them to be cut down by the Destiny's Arondight. The Windam in front of the Twilight tried to pull back, but Emily seized her chance to stab it through the cockpit and kick its broken body towards the sea.

"Only three left," she murmured, yanking back on the controls as the surviving Windams opened fire.

"If they think they can stop us with just this, they'll have to do better!" Shinn snarled. The Destiny plunged forward again, sweeping its sword through the Windams' ranks and forcing them back again. The Windams pulled back, tightening their formation again—only for the Twilight to pummel them with beam fire.

In the Twilight's cockpit, Emily merely sat back while Shinn savaged the remaining Windams with the Destiny's sword. The worst part of it, she supposed, was the nagging feeling that this was not enough.

—

"So there you are," chuckled Rau, as the Legend Gundam sailed from the sky and swept down upon the lone carrier in the dark seas. Only a quartet of Windams remained to stop him, rocketing towards him with beam rifles blazing. "And yet I certainly can't believe that _this_ is the extent of your plan, Sister Markav!"

The Legend lunged down towards the ocean and opened fire from below on the Windam team, pounding their shields with beam fire and driving them back. As the Alliance mobile suits floundered, the Legend shot across the ocean's surface and whirled around to open fire on the carrier. The ship lurched as a cloud of missiles lanced off its deck, angling towards the Legend.

"Merely against these things..."

Rau darted back into the air, cutting down the missiles with a burst of CIWS fire, and whirled around to draw a beam javelin and tear back towards the Windams. The quartet split their formation again, flanking the Legend and leveling their rifles—

Instead, the Legend's DRAGOONs opened fire, pounding the Windams again and tearing one apart in a blast of fire. The Legend whirled around again, leveling off its rifle to mow down a second Windam with a shot through the cockpit.

"All too easy," he laughed, and lunged aside again as the carrier's CIWS emplacements roared to life and filled the sky with bullets. The Windams arched around their carrier's wild shots and charged, opening fire themselves. The Legend took cover behind its beam shield, backing away as the Windams closed in—and with a flash, the Legend activated its javelin and vaulted towards the Windams with a downward hack. The two Windams jetted to the side, letting the Legend pass between them—only for the Legend to whip around and shoot down the Windam on its right.

The last Windam abandoned its rifle and charged with beam saber held high. Rau smirked as he turned his eyes towards it.

"Brave, perhaps," chuckled the masked man, "but that won't avenge them!"

The Legend wheeled around and blocked the Windam's saber with its beam shield—and with a hard shove, it knocked the Windam's saber arm aside and plunged its javelin through the attacker's cockpit.

Even as the Windam exploded, Rau turned his attention towards the carrier and plunged through its desperate CIWS fire.

"As for you," he went on, leveling off his rifle and angling his DRAGOONs, "far be it from me to assist my enemies," the carrier intensified its fire, only for its bullets to bounce harmlessly off the Legend's Phase Shift armor, "but you must be destroyed!"

The Legend opened fire, sending a gale of beam shots ripping into the carrier's deck and tower, slicing through its armor. Arms of fire tore the ship open as Rau's attacks found their marks in ammunition and fuel banks, and with a final thunderous blast, the carrier snapped in two and vanished beneath the waves.

Rau glanced up meaningfully at the horizon.

"Send us more, Sister Markav," he said, a feral grin on his lips, "so that I might turn our little Angel of Death into a goddess."

The Legend turned and took off.

—

**Phantom Island, Strait of Hormuz, Indian Ocean**

Captain Fujikawa was a nice old man hardly suited to the bloodthirsty subordinates with whom he had been entrusted. Four soldiers, all drugged up on the Earth Alliance's trusty addictive stimulant Gamma Glipheptin, were being prepared in the ready room already. For this, the good captain had been outfitted with one of the Phantom Pain's limited production Calamity Gundam units and a trio of Slaughter Daggers.

But if Captain Fujikawa was too nice an old man for the impending slaughter, he was also too nice an old man to turn loose rabid dogs primed on a highly addictive stimulant on his unsuspecting foes.

Captain Fujikawa, incidentally, was busy getting his orders from General O'Brien in the Phantom Island control room. This left Crayt free to stand on the hangar gantry, watching below at the black and red Calamity Gundam and trio of Slaughter Windams being prepared for battle. Their pilots were surrounded by black-uniformed soldiers of the Phantom Pain, restrained by more soldiers, while steely officers measured out vials of Gamma Glipheptin.

"I know what that stuff is!" the woman at the center, an ensign in the regular Navy, screamed as she thrashed against her two Phantom Pain captors. "Don't—!"

"Hold her still," the officer in charge remarked, eyeing his vial of the stimulant. The two soldiers yanked back on the ensign's arms, while a third moved toward to pry her mouth open. She let out a gargled scream as the officer emptied the vial down her throat, and the soldiers released her to fall to her knees, hacking and coughing.

"Did she get it?" the third soldier asked. The officer nodded, turning to fill the vial again.

"Now for the rest," he said.

Crayt smiled up on the gantry. This was a new formulation, one that would take effect in a few hours, increasing the time the user could operate at heightened alertness and coordination. The old Gamma Glipheptin formula was too fast-acting and wore off too quickly.

The downside, of course, was that after the drug wore off, the pilot would probably die. But that was no matter. God demanded sacrifice.

At the thought of sacrifice, she turned her thoughts to the plan. The _Manhattan_ had been summarily wiped out by the _Minerva_ not long ago, but its role was filled, and the delay was all the time Crayt had needed to assemble the final vestiges of her plan. Now the Strait of Hormuz sported Havilland's fleet, Phantom Island, and these soon-to-be-feral dogs of war.

Down below, the fourth pilot fell to his knees, the Gamma Glipheptin already churning in him. The Phantom Pain soldiers dragged the pilots up to their feet and pulled them away.

"Worry not," she whispered with a grin. "You sacrifice today, but in return, you shall touch the face of God."

—

The final checks had gone splendidly, and now all that was left to do was wait. And that was what Monique du Prey did, sitting back in the Morrigan's cockpit with her helmet thrown off and collar undone. Operation _Judgment_ called for Havilland's fleet to move in first and pummel the _Minerva_, only to make way for Phantom Island—and the Morrigan.

She pulled out the dossier on this machine's original pilot and leafed through it in boredom. Emily von Oldendorf, daughter of a minor bureaucrat with ambitions for far more; secret Newtype subject of Project Evolution, and now steadily awakening to her past training and power. But that power came at a price, and if it was not happening already, soon the growing sensitivity and bizarre memories would stretch the limits of her sanity.

And human sanity, Monique had found, was awfully fragile.

Monique gazed around the Morrigan's cockpit. Certainly this was the finest machine the Eurasian Federation had ever produced, before the Alliance's member nations synchronized their military development programs and began sharing technology. It could match the dreaded Freedom, in the hands of the right pilot.

And Monique had made her name as the Transylvania Viper, the evil witch that descended from the sky on the wings of a black and red Windam to visit a terrible slaughter on the underequipped and undisciplined Resistance fighters of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Indeed, when she had compared mobile suit combat to sex for that awkward young mechanic, she had not been kidding. The anticipation was already almost too much to bear.

Monique du Prey clapped the dossier shut and grinned.

—

**March 20th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Persian Gulf**

"The _Manhattan_'s signal went out at 2317," reported Vera from the XO's station. "An infrared scan at maximum resolution showed no survivors."

In the captain's chair, Danilov glowered in what he thought was the direction of Phantom Island. It was a twisted religion that so cheerfully sacrificed human lives to the gluttonous beast of war.

"Havilland's fleet and Phantom Island report that they are in position," Vera went on. "Ninety seconds to operation start."

Danilov sat back and pushed the thoughts from his mind. This was a battle; this would require all his skills as a commander, both to take down the _Minerva_ and to not get shot down by his own side. This was what he had signed up for, this simple, clear, decisive battle against so formidable a foe, where only the perfect performances of his troops and his own skill and speed as a commander would carry the day—against a commander who clearly had the same advantages.

The sun was rising. Marshal Markav had chosen the early morning hours for her deathblow, where she guessed the _Minerva's_ pilots would be at their lowest ebb, after the delaying action of the _Manhattan._

The clock ticked down to zero, and Danilov stood up.

_Here we come, _Minerva_._

"_Charlemagne_, maximum combat speed! All weapons free, all mobile suit teams prepare for launch!"

His eyes flashed, and if only for a moment, he imagined he could see the _Minerva_ on the horizon before him.

"_Commence operation!_"

—

**Phantom Island, Strait of Hormuz, Indian Ocean**

"Operation _Judgment_, _commence!_"

The ocean roared as Havilland's fleet ground forward, and the sky lit up as mobile suits rocketed into the air. Columns of water rose after them as a battalion of Deep Forbiddens and Forbidden Vortexes plunged into the ocean, and the world rumbled as Phantom Island began to move.

"The _Charlemagne_ is moving into position," O'Brien reported in the control room, "and Captain Fujikawa has deployed the Gamma Glipheptin team."

Crayt grinned, and in her mind, her senses turned over the contours of the pulsing mass of life before her. At its center were four wild, flickering flames—distorted by the Alliance's stimulant.

"_Minerva_ is launching mobile suits," O'Brien went on. "It looks like they're catching on."

"Let them," cackled Crayt, sitting back and draping a leg over the other. "Armageddon has begun. They cannot stop it now."

—

"There's so fucking many!" Auel's voice screamed, ringing through the Twilight's cockpit and into Emily's brain as the Gundams soared into battle. She risked a glance over the radar and felt the familiar dread creep back up her throat.

"Oh no," she whispered. "Look at them all..."

"It's a fleet formation," growled Athrun, as the Infinite Justice took the lead of the Gundams' formation. "Sting, Auel, you two will stay back and defend the _Minerva_. The rest of us, break into teams and set up further ahead. We'll storm the fleet's formation and attempt a breakthrough at the first weak point we can make."

"We can't handle a whole fucking fleet by ourselves!" Auel cried.

"Shit, guys, would you hurry it up? Sonar has a battalion of mobile suits underwater too!" Roxy cut in.

Athrun's eyes flashed, frustrated. "Auel, take them on; Sting, protect the _Minerva._ We'll move forward and engage as many of those units as we can—"

"Picking up another group of enemies behind us!" Burt's voice interrupted. "It's the _Charlemagne!_"

Emily felt herself go cold—they were trapped by overwhelming forces. How could they survive? Where could they go?

"I'll deal with them," Shinn snarled, and the Destiny backflipped over the other Gundams and took off towards the _Minerva_.

"Here they come," Athrun started. "_Engage!_"

A wave of beam fire washed across the sky, and all hell broke loose.

The Twilight charged forward, beam rifle blazing and slipping into a crack in the enemy's beam barrage. A squadron of Jet Windams came streaking in, rifles alight; Emily darted above their fire and returned it in spades with her own rifle and long-range cannon. The Windam formation broke, two of their number going down in flames—but another squadron immediately rose into the sky to pick up the slack.

The Twilight took off again, firing back from behind its beam shield and picking off another Windam. The remaining five swept in, missiles screaming around the black Gundam's armor, forcing it back behind a hail of explosions.

"There's just too many," Emily groaned; the Twilight lunged up over the smoke and picked off another Windam with its rifle. The remaining four banked to the side, taking cover behind their shields and opening fire again—

And a moment later, a hurricane of beam blasts punched them out of the sky. Emily's eyes went wide as a twisted, distorted pressure—a horrifying feeling of fear—ripped its way through her brain and down her spine. She turned her eyes to the side—

A black and red Calamity Gundam and three Slaughter Windams came charging towards her, opening fire. Emily's eyes flashed as four words tore across her consciousness.

"Kill...or be...killed...?"

The Calamity's eyes flashed.

—

The Destiny Gundam spiraled elegantly into the battle, dodging a volley of beams from the _Charlemagne_'s Windam complement and activating its beam wings with a flash. Shinn narrowed his eyes as his Gundam drew its massive anti-ship sword.

"Just because you have us trapped here," he growled, "_don't think you'll have it easy!_"

The Destiny charged, diving through a wave of beam fire as the Windams charged. He chopped down one, then whirled around to take out another—and jetted back to dodge another beam volley. The Destiny rattled, Shinn looked up, and he found his blade crossed with those of the Strike Noir.

Inside the black Gundam, Sven's eyes flashed. "Shams, Mudie, engage!"

The Blu Duel swept in from behind, beam saber drawn, while the Strike Noir thrust the Destiny back. Shinn backflipped over the Blu Duel's beam saber stab and brought his sword down over it, only for Mudie to duck aside and fire back with a beam gun shot from her left hand. The blast tore through only an afterimage, as Shinn skirted around the two Gundams, sword upraised—only for his blow to be stopped by the Noir's beam swords. Another set of shots came barreling from the sky, slamming against the Destiny's beam shield and driving it back, and from afar, the Verde Buster opened fire again with its beam rifles.

The Noir charged up straight through the Verde Buster's fire, pounding the Destiny's Arondight with sword strokes of its own, one after another. After the sixth stroke, the Noir backflipped into the air—and the Blu Duel charged in to pummel the Destiny with another six blows from both beam sabers. When the Blu Duel skirted aside, Shinn charged forward with a scream, taking a punishing swipe at the Noir with his sword—only for the Verde Buster to force the two machines apart again with another beam volley.

"Work your way behind him and use the penetrators," Sven instructed, as the Noir closed in to slam its blades against the Destiny's sword. "Knock him around in there and we'll get him while he's distracted!"

The Blu Duel somersaulted over the Destiny's head. Shinn ground his teeth, surging forward to shove the Noir back and then whirling around to slam his sword against the Blu Duel's sabers. The Noir lunged up, curling its anchors around the Destiny's arms and yanking them wide, exposing the Gundam's chest.

"_Now!_" roared Sven

The Blu Duel and Verde Buster leveled off their beam guns and fired.

—

The guns of Havilland's fleet boomed and filled the sky with shells, and as a cloud of smoke spread out through the air, Athrun cursed as the Infinite Justice and Savior dropped to the sea.

"They're not coming after us, they're just firing from the fleet," Viveka grunted, as the Savior halted its descent just above the water. "Are they baiting us?"

Athrun let out an even breath and eyed his spread of enemies carefully. "Viveka," he said, "I've dealt with situations like this before, but I'm going to need you to lay down cover fire and stay back."

"Stay back?" Viveka echoed. The conversation paused as the two Gundams darted apart, dodging another torrent of beams. "I can handle it—!"

"And that's not what I'm questioning," Athrun answered. "But if what I'm about to do is going to work, I can't be worrying about where you are in relation to me."

Viveka narrowed an eye at the Infinite Justice. "Are you saying you don't trust me?"

"I'm saying I don't want to hurt you."

She turned her eye back towards the fleet. "What are you going to do anyways?"

"Storm the fleet myself and attack the ships directly."

"Oh, _fuck_ that," Viveka shot back. "Are you nuts? I'm not letting you—"

The two Gundams jetted apart again. "We don't have time for this, Viveka," he shot back. "I need you to stay back here and provide cover. Do you trust me or not?"

The Savior rocked as a shell landed hard against its shield, and Viveka squinted through the smoke at the Justice.

At last, she gave an airy sigh. "Do what you want."

Athrun narrowed his eyes at the fleet. "Then I won't hold back."

The Windams opened fire again—and in a flash, the Infinite Justice ignited its beam blade and charged. The Savior opened fire, scattering the Windam formation, but the Justice charged straight through and lunged down towards the fleet at the water's surface.

"Oh my God, you're kidding," Viveka groaned.

The fleet opened fire, its rounds converging on the Justice as it stormed forward. The ships threw a screen of missiles into the sky—the Justice cut down into the water, skimming along the surface and below the fleet's desperate shots and stowing its beam rifle. The Justice jerked to the right, whirling past a storm of firepower—and with a crash, it embedded its anchor deep into the side of one of the fleet's smaller frigates.

Engines screaming, the Justice illuminated the sky with a blast of exhaust, and charged lengthwise over the fleets, dragging the stricken warship sideways through the water with both arms. It plowed through a destroyer, bowling it over and capsizing it, and sparks flew as the ship's hull ripped its way over its fallen comrade. Athrun darted back towards the sea, dragging the frigate through another ship, and ducked as the Windams above him finally opened fire. The Justice lanced up into the air, and with a yell from its pilot, lifted the frigate's bridge tower off of the hull and into the sky, and swung it into the Windams' incredulous ranks.

In the Savior, Viveka watched in disbelief as Athrun crushed a squad of Windams to death with a piece of a warship's superstructure. It smashed down below into a third destroyer, snapping in two at last and carrying both beneath the waves.

"_Are you out of your fucking mind?_" she cried.

The Justice retracted its anchor with a crash and glared menacingly at the rest of the enemies. "It's arguable if I ever had one," came Athrun's answer. He turned towards the rest of the fleet. "Fire again—there's more left!"

—

"Well played, Sister Markav," cackled Rau Le Creuset as his Legend Gundam spiraled through the air with a squadron of Windams on its tail, "but it will take more than this to kill _me!_"

The Legend slammed on the brakes and crashed itself into the Windams, opening fire with its DRAGOONs to wipe out four in one blow. The remaining eight Windams broke off, opening fire again—only for the Legend to dart aside, seizing one of the Windams by the ankle. Rau turned with a grin and slammed his captive into one of its compatriots, knocking it from the sky. A white bolt slashed the air—Rau whirled around and threw his captive Windam into the path of a volley of beam blasts from the remaining six, and then fired back through their dying comrade to shoot down a third Windam. The last five spread out again, only to be pounded by a wave of beam fire from the Legend.

Rau grinned. "Stella, now!"

Lancing across the sky, a beam went shooting through one Windam's cockpit, blowing it apart—and with a crash, the Gaia Gundam lunged into the fray. The four surviving Windams rocketed apart, backing away behind their shields as another force of Windams came up behind them.

The Legend hefted its beam rifle, falling back behind its beam shield as the Windams opened fire. "They certainly came in force," he chuckled, glancing over at the Gaia. "Don't you agree, Stella?"

Stella's face was the picture of courage. "Stella's not scared of them," she answered.

Rau flashed a grin. "And neither am I."

The Windams opened fire again, and the Gundams boosted apart and charged.

—

Auel Neider hated fighting underwater. And naturally, it was his machine, the Abyss Gundam, that was the only Gundam in the _Minerva's_ roster capable of fighting underwater. As usual, the universe conspired against him.

A squad of Deep Forbiddens, a Forbidden Vortex at their head, came streaking towards the Abyss. Auel glanced over his shoulder—the _Minerva_ was hovering over the water's surface, so clearly they wanted to surface below the ship and hit the ventral side.

"Of course," he chuckled, "you fuckers will have to go through me first."

The Abyss transformed with a flash, and Auel threw the switch to cut power to the beam weapons and reroute it to the joints, allowing for faster movements. The Abyss rocketed forward, bringing its lance to bear as the Forbidden Vortex did the same, and the two mobile suits crashed together.

"_Fuck_ do I hate doing this," he sighed, and fired the Abyss's thrusters. The Forbidden Vortex staggered back, and the Deep Forbiddens moved in to cover it while it regained its balance—but too late, as Auel activated a pair of phonon maser cannons on the Abyss's torso.

And instead, the Forbidden Vortex's backpack slid down over its head, and the Geschmeidig Panzer armor sent his shots arcing over the Vortex's head and lancing back down towards the Abyss. Auel boosted back, letting the shots sear by, and a moment later one of the Deep Forbiddens charged towards him with its trident.

"Well _that_ was stupid!" snapped Auel, slamming the trident aside with his lance and surging forward. The Deep Forbidden floundered, its comrades rushing in—but Auel forced them back with a crash from his lance, and slammed the solid blade through his foe's waist, snapping the enemy machine in two.

The Forbidden Vortex tore through the wreckage, stabbing forward with its trident. The Abyss smacked the blade aside, but an instant later, the Vortex's two shoulder claws clamped down on the Abyss's shoulder shells, yanking them back. The Vortex raised its trident—

"I don't think so!" Auel shot back, and with a crash, he fired his phonon masers point-blank into the Vortex's Geschmeidig Panzer armor. The armor did its job, deflecting the blasts—and sending them plowing through the cockpits of two of the remaining three Deep Forbiddens.

Auel smirked as the Abyss kicked the enemy in the torso, driving it back and freeing his shoulder shells.

"I imagine that thing's a real pain in the ass if you use it like that," he laughed. The Abyss twirled its lance over its head and pointed it vindictively at the remaining enemies. "Come on, you cocksuckers! Let's dance!"

—

**Phantom Island**

"_Charlemagne_ ETA is nine minutes," one of the deckhands reported, as the Phantom Island control room buzzed with activity. "Havilland's fleet has sustained nineteen percent losses."

Crayt Markav sat back in the commander's chair, smiling. "As expected. Order Havilland to press forward as far as he can."

Another officer blanched. "Ma'am, he reports that his ships are under attack by two Gundams—"

"Irrelevant. Push him forward as far as he can go." Crayt glanced up at the tactical display, where Havilland's fleet was spread out in a lazy and slowly thinning crescent in front of Phantom Island, with the _Minerva_ far ahead of it—and the _Charlemagne_ fast approaching.

"Marshal," O'Brien started nervously, "Havilland's fleet will not last long. Shall we begin?"

"Their Gundams are suitably occupied now," Crayt said. "Give the order."

O'Brien saluted sharply and turned towards the rest of the control room. "Phantom Island mobile suit force, deploy! Zamzazar units Cancer 1 and Cancer 2, deploy; Gelzuge unit, deploy; all weapons free!"

Phantom Island's main hatch ponderously yawned open, and as two Zamzazar mobile armors rose from the gaping maw, Crayt grinned.

—

Seven Windams shot down in one go, Sting mused, was actually pretty good—but it was hard to feel like it was much of an accomplishment when there were dozens more where they came from.

The Chaos lurched as missiles went off around it, and another squad of Jet Windams came streaking in with blazing beam rifles. Sting narrowed his eyes and lunged aside, letting their beams pass by harmlessly—and with a crash, he swung forward and sawed one Windam in two with the Chaos's beam claws. The three survivors whirled around, forcing the Chaos back on the defensive—and as the smoke cleared, another formation of Windams opened fire as well.

"They should be charged by now," Sting grunted, risking a glance at the battery gauge for his weapon pods. "Perfect. Gunbarrels, _go!_"

The Chaos darted skywards, its gunbarrels lifting off with a roar and showering the battlefield with missiles. As the Windams backed away, covering themselves with a hurricane of CIWS bullets, the Chaos rocketed into their formation to slam its claws through two Windams, then shoot down a third. The Alliance mobile suits scattered, beam rifles blazing, only for the gunbarrels to lance off after the wings of their formation and drive them apart. And as the right-hand formation struggled to put itself back together, the Chaos swept into their ranks, shooting down two more of their number.

The Windams scattered again, but this time a blazing wave of beams from above covered their withdrawal. Sting looked up towards the sky, and felt his heart sink.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me..."

The sky lit up from the flashing eyes of a charging Zamzazar.

—

The beams closed in, the seed burst, and with a scream, Shinn Asuka threw the throttle open.

The Destiny Gundam rocketed skyward, the Strike Noir's anchors still wrapped tightly around its arms, letting the Blu Duel's beam shots pass by harmlessly. With a crash, Shinn charged forward, whirled around, and slammed his captor into the Blu Duel's face. As the Noir's anchors disengaged, the Destiny darted forward, brandishing its sword and swiping swiftly at the Verde Buster.

"_Minerva_, Abes, put the second Arondight in the catapult and fire it to me!" he roared, bringing his sword down with a crash on the Verde Buster's bayonets. The Destiny surged forward, throwing its foe back, and Shinn leveled off his long-range cannon—

An instant later, the Noir was there to chop the cannon in two. Shinn cursed, bringing his sword around towards the Noir, only to be punched aside by a railgun shell from the Verde Buster. And a moment later, the Blu Duel was there, slamming a trio of anti-armor penetrators into the Destiny's face and throwing it back.

The Noir swept down, swords raised high, and only a timely counter-swing from the Destiny stopped the blow. The Blu Duel skirted around again, beam saber held wide—Shinn rocketed backward, whirling around to smash his sword into the Blu Duel's shield and send it staggering aside. More beams from the Verde Buster forced him back again, and only his Newtype senses saved him when he whirled around to block the Noir's sword swipes.

"Dammit..." Shinn grunted. "The sword—!"

The Blu Duel opened fire, showering the Destiny with beam bolts and searing its armor; a moment later, the Noir surged its engines again, throwing the Destiny back. The Blu Duel came charging in, beam saber held forward for a killing stab—

"_I don't think so!"_ Shinn roared.

The Destiny swung its sword to the side, knocking the Blu Duel's saber wide, and then lunged up skyward to dodge a volley of railgun shells from the Verde Buster and Noir. Shinn threw out the Destiny's left hand with a scream, and the _Minerva's_ spare Arondight unit came crashing into his hand. He whirled around to dodge another beam salvo from the Blu Duel, and with a flash, snapped open the second Arondight and activated the blade.

Shinn clenched his fists around the Destiny's controls, the Destiny floating before its enemies, two anti-ship swords in its hands. "I've had enough of you three," he snarled. The Destiny swung its swords out, pointing the tips at the three enemies before it. "_Come and get me!_"

—

Another Windam went down in flames, and the Gaia and Legend Gundams backed away as the surviving Windam formation opened fire again. Inside the Gaia, Stella glowered at her foes, dodging their shots and firing back. The Windams were pulling back—

The Gaia shot forward, switching to its beam saber and slamming it through a Windam's cockpit. As its comrades leveled off their rifles to open fire, Stella lunged forward with a scream, reverting the Gaia to quadruped mode and slashing another Windam in half. As the Gaia fell, she transformed again and took off, firing back with her beam rifle. The Windams turned to follow, only to be broken apart and lose two of their number to a punishing beam barrage from the Legend.

The Windams pulled back again, but this time a wall of beam fire and missiles accompanied them. Stella grunted as her mobile suit was rocked by missiles, and the Legend dropped in front of her to deflect the blows with its beam shield.

"Rau..." she started, put off by the grim look on his face.

"The Phantom Pain came prepared," he answered. "Look up ahead."

Stella glanced over the Legend's shoulder, and saw the sky light up with a beam volley from a Gelzuge mobile armor, brandishing a pair of beam rifles behind its glittering positron reflector.

The Gaia drifted up next to the Legend, eyes flashing.

"Stella will deal with it," she answered, and charged with a flash.

—

In the Infinite Justice's cockpit, Athrun narrowed his eyes and charged forward, twin beam saber alight. A team of Windams came charging towards him, but he easily ducked around their beam blasts, whirling in to saw the first one in two at the waist, then slice the next in two, and cut down the third. The fourth ducked to the side before Athrun could reach it, only to be blown away by a beam rifle blast—and the Savior dropped in next to the Justice, plasma cannons active.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a fucking lunatic?" asked Viveka.

"All the time," Athrun answered. "Cover me!"

The Justice pitched down towards the fleet, while the Savior backed up to open fire on the Windam formation before it could come back together. Athrun went barreling down towards the water, pulling up to tear across its surface. A squad of Windams came charging at him, but he blasted straight through their ranks, clamping his anchor onto the ankle of one of his foes and dragging it after him. And with a scream, he slammed the Windam through the bridge tower of the first warship he came to, then pounded a beam cannon blast through the broken mobile suit to wipe it out in a thundering explosion.

A wave of plasma cannon blasts lanced out of the sky to stop the rest of the defenders as Athrun charged, twirling his twin beam saber and swinging it down to cleave through the hull of another warship, flooding it with seawater. As it began to list and sink, he kicked out its bridge tower and charged, towards the carrier at the heart of the fleet.

"That looks like the flagship," Viveka said. Athrun eyed it carefully for a moment—surely it couldn't be this easy.

The Justice banked down, beam saber alight, and fired its anchor into the carrier's prow. It rocked as missiles and CIWS came to life, but the Savior was there to cut them down and open fire, driving back the desperate Windam defenders. The Justice somersaulted onto the carrier's deck, whirled around, activated its boomerang blade, and sliced in two a Windam that came charging from the ship's hangar. Athrun hacked through the smoke, eyes flashing, and glared up at the bridge tower, where he could almost see the crew staring in horror.

And at that, he pointed his rifle down and fired into the ship's missile launchers.

The Justice vaulted off the ship's deck as it exploded and snapped in two like a twig, but an instant later, the familiar white bolt cut the air and the two Gundams lunged apart as a torrent of beam fire sliced the sky. Athrun clenched his teeth in frustration.

"The hell was that?" Viveka started.

A dark shape blotted out the sun, and another volley of beams came streaming down. Athrun scowled as the two Gundams dodged.

"So it _wasn't_ going to be that easy," he growled.

The Zamzazar descended from the sky and spread its claws.

—

"What _are_ these things?" Emily wailed, as three Slaughter Daggers and a Calamity Gundam pounded her beam shields with firepower. "'Kill or be killed...?'"

One of the Slaughter Windams swept in, abandoning its beam rifle and drawing a beam saber. An instant later, it was blown out of the sky as the Calamity opened fire again, slamming the Twilight with solid shells and knocking it back behind a veil of smoke. Another Slaughter Windam came charging in, beam saber upraised—only to be shot down by more beam blasts from the Calamity.

"He's shooting down all his allies!" Emily cried, the Twilight rocking as more blasts pummeled its beam shield. "Why? What is with this guy—?"

The third Slaughter Windam charged, but at the Calamity instead of the Twilight. The huge gun-toting Gundam vaulted off of its sub-wing unit, letting the Windam pass by beneath it with a fruitless beam saber swipe. The Calamity turned its ram cannons on the hapless ally, blowing it out of the sky and landing back on the sub-wing with a crash.

The Calamity burst through the smoke, stowing its bazooka on its rear skirt armor, and plowed through Emily's beam rifle fire behind its shield. The Twilight jolted as the Calamity rammed it and slammed down its hand onto the Twilight's shoulder—and Emily's eyes went wide as a message came through.

The pilot was a woman in a standard Alliance flight suit, her helmet missing, hair unkempt, eyes bloodshot, skin slowly blackening around her eyes and gleaming with a sheen of sweat. Between her haggard breaths, Emily could hear words.

"Kill..._kill me!_"

Emily gasped. "_Kill_ you? What—?"

"You're the Angel of Death, aren't you?" the dying pilot demanded. "So _KILL ME!_ Before it—"

She fell silent, her eyes squeezing shut, and she let out a bloodcurdling scream. The Calamity shoved the Twilight back and fired off a blast from its Scylla cannon; the Twilight skirted aside and took off, the Calamity reclaiming its bazooka and giving chase, pouring firepower after the Twilight.

"_Kill or be killed!_" the Calamity's pilot shrieked. "_KILL OR BE KILLED!_"

"What's wrong with her?" Emily exclaimed, diving around the Calamity's torrent of firepower.

Another voice cut in, and a second woman's sardonic laughter filled the Twilight's cockpit, even as the Calamity continued its onslaught.

"You want to know what's wrong with her?" the second woman's voice cackled. A second screen popped up, showing the face of a dark-haired woman in a Phantom Pain flight suit, her blue eyes glittering with delight. "Pay close attention, little girl, because that is _you!_"

The sky split in two, and from the sun charged the Morrigan Gundam.

—To be continued...


	36. Phase 36: Phantom Island

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 36 - Phantom Island

—

**March 20th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Strait of Hormuz, Indian Ocean**

"_Charlemagne_ closing to stern!"

In the _Minerva's_ captain's chair, Meyrin Hawke steeled herself, watching her hulking adversary advance through the sky with its wealth of beam cannons glowing. The fleet was busy with the Infinite Justice and Savior, but there was still the towering Phantom Island waiting behind them; and the _Charlemagne_ was clearly not letting them go anywhere anyway.

"Malik, I'll leave the evasive maneuvers to you," Meyrin said, sitting back and cracking her knuckles. "Chen, make your shots count. Aim for the armaments first of all."

The _Minerva_ groaned as Malik guided it into battle, and Meyrin sat back to watch as her titanic foe swung toward her, beam cannons angling to open fire. The _Minerva_ jerked upward, letting the shots sail by underneath—

"Tristans, Isolde, _fire!_"

The _Minerva's_ guns boomed in response, but Meyrin frowned in frustration as the shots dissipated harmlessly against the _Charlemagne_'s armor. The Isolde's shells went sailing uselessly over the ship's bridge tower as it ducked down, and a moment later her intuition spiked—

"Malik, descend!"

Too late—a triple-barreled blast from the _Charlemagne_ plowed through the _Minerva's_ Isolde, blowing it apart. Meyrin scowled at the _Charlemagne_, and her stricken ship banked to the side as the _Charlemagne_ opened fire with a punishing beam barrage.

"They're not letting up," Abbey grunted as the _Minerva_ shook. "Captain—"

"I know," Meyrin shot back. "Malik, bank us back towards the _Charlemagne_ when you get the chance—"

She was cut off again as this time a beam plowed through the tip of the _Minerva's_ starboard wing, rattling the entire vessel and nearly knocking it out of the air.

"Damage to starboard wing!" Burt called out. "Captain—"

Meyrin clenched her teeth as the _Minerva_ swung around, opening fire with its Tristans—only for its shots to once again bounce off the _Charlemagne_'s armor.

"That's not just laminated armor," Abbey grumbled from the XO's station. "Do they have a positron reflector too?"

"Only one way to make sure," Meyrin answered. "Charge the Tannhäuser!"

—

The Destiny brought both its swords crashing down onto the Strike Noir's beam blades, driving the black mobile suit back. It fired back with its railguns, but the Destiny plowed through the shells and smashed the Noir's blades again—only to be fired on an instant later by the Blu Duel and Verde Buster's beam guns.

"Shams, Mudie, cover fire!" Sven shouted. "I will close in!"

The Noir went charging forward, parrying each of the Destiny's sword blows but finding its own counterblows parried as well. The Noir backflipped over a sword stroke and charged for a killing stab, only for its left-hand blade to be knocked wide and its right-hand blade stopped by the Destiny's two swords.

"Mudie, now!"

The Blu Duel swept in behind the Destiny, saber drawn back—

Inside the Destiny, Shinn's eyes flashed as he caught sight of the Blu Duel. "Don't think you can always pull that off!" he snapped—with a crash, the Destiny rocketed skyward over the Blu Duel's saber swipe, and came back down to kick the Blu Duel in the back and knock it out of the sky. An instant later, the Noir was upon him with both blades slammed against the Destiny's swords, knocking it back.

The Destiny surged forward, blades crashing down on the Noir and driving it back. A moment later, the Blu Duel somersaulted over the falling Noir, sabers held high, only to be punched back by another powerful sword blow. Beams from the Verde Buster lanced out of the heavens, but the Destiny dodged them effortlessly and rocketed into the sky, pursued by the Noir and Blu Duel.

"_Fall already!_" screamed Mudie, as the Blu Duel opened fire. The Destiny rocketed above its shots and swung its swords up, blocking a pair of sword strikes from the Noir. With a crash, the Destiny kicked the Noir in the stomach, knocking it back, and Shinn charged towards his stunned foe with a scream—

In the Noir's cockpit, Sven's eyes flashed as the seed fell, and the Noir pounded the Destiny's blades with its own. Shinn surged forward, but the Noir blocked his strokes and kicked his machine back in the face, driving it back—and with a crash, Sven brought his right-hand blade down through the Destiny's left-hand sword, slicing it in two.

"His movement is different..." Shinn growled, pulling back and hurling the broken sword into the Noir's face. The black Gundam pursued as the Destiny backpedaled, and they slammed together in another swordfight. "Did he—?"

The Noir surged forward, throwing the Destiny back and letting the other two machines shower him with beam fire. Shinn pulled back behind his beam shields, sheathing his sword in favor of two beam boomerangs, but as he sent them hurtling forward, the Noir was there to chop them out of the sky.

"Sven..." Mudie started, cut off when the Noir charged again. "He's fighting differently now...?"

—

"Stella, flank it on the other side!" Rau called, as the Legend and Gaia dodged desperately, the unstoppable Gelzuge pouring beam fire after them. "I see the Alliance has not been idle..."

The Gelzuge brought down its claws onto the Legend's beam shield, driving the gray Gundam back. Rau ground his teeth and sent the Legend spiraling skyward, dodging a wealth of beam fire. The Gaia swept in from the side, showering the Gelzuge with fire from her rifle; the Gelzuge wheeled around, swiping at the Gaia with its claw and snapping the rifle in two.

"You...!" The Gaia charged, drawing a saber and bringing it down with a shriek on the Gelzuge's claw. The hulking mobile armor threw the Gaia back, then whirled around again to pound the Legend with beams. The Gelzuge swiped again with its claws, knocking the Legend around again.

The Gaia returned with a crash, slamming its saber down onto the Gelzuge's claw and firing its thrusters.

"Stella will fight it!" Stella cried, shooting a glance towards Rau. "Go protect the ship!"

Rau frowned at Stella, studying her intense and determined face for a moment, before nodding. "I will leave the Gelzuge to you," he said. "Call in if you need help." The Legend took off with a flash.

The Gaia went hurtling back as the Gelzuge shoved it away with its claws and pummeled it with more beam fire. Stella squinted through the lights, finding her opening, and charged again—only for the Gelzuge to throw her back with another claw swipe.

"You think you're scary?" Stella snapped, throwing the Gaia through another wave of beam fire. The Gelzuge shuddered as a cloud of missiles took off from its armor, arcing down towards the Gaia. "_You're not scary at all!_"

The Gaia shredded the missile formation with a CIWS burst, but the flashing explosions and smoke were all the Gelzuge needed to storm in close and bring its claw down with a crash onto the Gaia's shield, shattering it like glass.

"That's not enough!" Stella snapped—with a flash she drew the Gaia's saber in her left hand and slashed forward with it, slicing the Gelzuge's left-hand rifle in two. She whirled around, only to have the Phase Shift armor pummeled as the Gelzuge's anti-aircraft guns opened fire.

The Gelzuge came storming in, claws upraised and a beam saber held high in the Gelzuge's left hand. The sabers crashed, but the Gelzuge's massive size sent the Gaia staggering back.

"Just 'cuz you're bigger than me..." Stella started, darting to the side as the Gelzuge opened fire again.

—

"Well, I guess if I were me I would've deployed one of these things too," Sting Oakley grunted as the Chaos reeled under a wave of firepower from the hulking Zamzazar, "_but that doesn't mean I have to like it!_'

The Zamzazar took a mighty swing with its right-hand claw, nearly catching the Chaos' leg. Sting backpedaled and opened fire with his beam rifle, only for his shots to land harmlessly on the shimmering positron reflector. The Zamzazar pummeled the Chaos with beam fire again, driving it back behind its shield, and opened fire with a punishing energy cannon barrage.

"Dammit, my shield's not gonna block that," Sting snarled. The Chaos lunged up over the blasts and detached its gunbarrels, showering the Zamzazar with beams and missiles—only to see them all slam harmlessly against the reflector. A pall of smoke rose around the mobile armor, and Sting seized his chance to charge, igniting both of the Chaos' leg blades—

A moment later, the Zamzazar burst out of the smoke and smashed the Chaos' shield to pieces, throwing the green Gundam towards the sea. Sting cursed as he tried to regain control, only to see the Zamzazar on the warpath above him, claw raised—

"_Fuck you, motherfucker!_"

With a characteristic war cry, the Abyss Gundam burst out of the water, pushing a damaged Deep Forbidden in front of it. A mighty kick sent the Deep Forbidden spiraling towards the Zamzazar—but the mobile armor smashed the mobile suit aside with an annoyed claw swipe and backed away as the Abyss opened fire.

"Man, I need to save your ass _again?_" Auel laughed. "You're slipping, Sting."

"Shut the fuck up and fight," Sting shot back, the Chaos switching its rifle to its left hand and drawing a beam saber with its now-free right. The two Gundams rocketed apart as the Zamzazar opened fire again, and Auel returned the fire in spades, only to be thrown back by a beam barrage from the Zamzazar's turrets.

"I _hate_ these fucking things," Auel snapped, the Abyss reeling behind a storm of firepower. Sting swept in with a charge, beam saber held high—

With a shriek of twisting metal, the Zamzazar slammed its right-hand claw onto the Chaos' leg and hurled it towards the sea, snapping the leg off at the knee. Sting screamed as his Gundam careened towards the sea and the Zamzazar leveled off its guns for a killing blow, opening fire—

As the shots raced in, the Abyss rammed the Chaos aside to take the blow, shearing off the lower half of its left-hand shoulder shell and blowing away its arm at the elbow and leg at the knee. Auel cursed as the Gundam shuddered, as though in pain, and Sting seized his chance to fire back with the Chaos' beam rifle.

"Auel!" Sting called. "Are you alright?"

The damaged Abyss flashed its eyes furiously. "Oh, this guy is gonna _pay for that!_"

—

The Infinite Justice rocked as the enemy mobile armor's beams pounded the Justice's beam shield, and Athrun Zala risked a glance towards the Savior, spiraling through the air in mobile armor mode to dodge the Zamzazar's furious barrage. He flicked his eyes back towards the mobile armor and lunged aside, barely avoiding a punishing claw swipe. The Justice swept in, beam blade alight, only to see it stopped by the Zamzazar's left-hand claw—and Athrun went back on the defensive, rocketing upward as the Zamzazar opened fire.

"Get around behind it!" Athrun instructed. "It can't focus on two directions at once...!"

The Savior whirled in from behind as the Justice dodged claw swipes and beam blasts, and with a scream, Viveka charged—only for the Zamzazar's rearward guns to angle up and open fire. The Savior went back on the defensive, with thick black scars torn over its armor.

Athrun scowled and vaulted over another beam barrage, somersaulting over the Zamzazar's head and pounding it with beam shots from above. "_Now!_"

The Savior went barreling in, beam saber held high, but the saber stopped cold against the Zamzazar's rear right-hand claw.

"That's not all!" Viveka snapped, the Savior's guns swinging up into position—

And with a crash, the Zamzazar's left-hand claw smashed through them both, flinging the Savior towards the sea.

"_Goddammit!_" cried Viveka, jockeying to regain control. The Zamzazar came storming towards her, claws open—

Instead of death, the sky split in two as the Infinite Justice came barreling out of the sky, ramming the Zamzazar in the side and knocking it wide. The Zamzazar flung the Justice aside with its arm, turning its guns towards the red Gundam and piercing its beam rifle with a shot・

The seed burst, Athrun's eyes flashed, the Justice slalomed through the beam blasts, and hurled its sparking beam rifle into the Zamzazar's face. As the weapon exploded, the Justice burst through the smoke with both its beam sabers connected, bringing the saber down with a crash. The Zamzazar blocked the Justice's strokes with expert precision, throwing the Gundam back again with sheer force.

"How can it fight like that at close range?" Viveka cried—only for Athrun's face to flicker onto her monitor.

"Stay back," he warned. "I'll handle this."

Viveka scowled back. "Quit treating me like a kid," she snapped. "I can still—"

"I don't care!" Athrun yelled. "I've had enough friends tell me that they don't need my help, and they're dead now!" The Justice rocketed into the sky as the Zamzazar gave chase. "Hate me if you want, but at least you'll be alive for it, and that's all I ask for!"

The Zamzazar charged again, and the Justice whipped up its saber to fight back.

—

"_I'LL KILL YOU!_"

The words rang through the Twilight's cockpit as the black Gundam went reeling under a rain of firepower from the raging Calamity Gundam. Emily narrowed her eyes at it—only for the instinct to scream at her, and she ducked aside to dodge a beam shot from the white and black Morrigan Gundam.

"Pretty freaky, isn't it?" cackled the second woman, letting the Calamity surge in close with a beam blast. Emily screamed as the Twilight rocked, and the Calamity rammed her with its sub-wing. "Just look at her, little girl! She's got no mind of her own! She's an animal! She can't even follow orders!"

Emily clenched her teeth as the Calamity attacked again, taking off over the blasts. "Who _are you?_"

The second woman grinned like a beast. "Well, aren't _you_ a cute one!" she laughed. "I'm going to _enjoy_ this!"

The Calamity charged again, beam cannons blazing and forcing Emily back on the defensive. Her eyes flicked around anxiously, looking for a way out, but the Calamity was too pressing a threat—

"Anyway, I guess you deserve to know who's going to kill you," the woman went on with a grin, "so allow me to introduce myself, Miss Angel of Death!"

The Calamity slammed the Twilight again, throwing it towards the sea and pummeling it with ram cannon shells. The Twilight rocketed aside, leveling off its beam rifle—only for another shot to come streaking from the sky, blowing it out of the Twilight's hand.

"I'm Monique du Prey," the woman said, "_and you're Unit Zero-One!_"

The Morrigan came down with a crash, punching the Twilight back into the Calamity's range. Emily whirled around to face her, beam saber in hand, only to be forced to duck aside as the Calamity opened fire again.

"_KILL ME!_" the Calamity's pilot shrieked. "_PLEASE! KILL ME!_"

"I hope your conversation with the ensign here has been a fruitful one," Monique went on, "because she's pretty much everything you're meant to be."

The Calamity slammed into the Twilight again, leveling off its beam cannons. Emily's eyes narrowed as she saw her chance, sawing off both cannons with a flash. The Calamity's Scylla gun fired, but the Twilight ducked aside, losing its solid shield in the process. Emily whirled around, beam saber raised to strike the Calamity's exposed back—only for another barrage from the Morrigan to stop her.

"See, all the ensign really has going for her now is her ability to fight," Monique continued. The Calamity hit the Twilight with another punishing ram cannon salvo. "And that's only gonna last as long as the drug does. And that's kinda like you, when you think about it."

"How do you know—?" Emily started, only to be stopped as the Twilight quaked again under a bazooka salvo.

"I know all about you, Unit Zero-One," Monique laughed back. "Daughter of Gerhardt and Lorelei von Oldendorf, taken at age four for advanced combat training. Secretly trained in hand-to-hand combat, black ops, firearms, mobile armor, and mobile suit combat. Repeatedly subjected to Atlantic Fed memory alteration equipment to keep you from ever suspecting a thing. Sound familiar?"

Emily ground her teeth as the nerve was struck. "That can't be..."

The Calamity pounded her Gundam again, throwing it back. "Oh, but it is," giggled Monique. "You know what I'm talking about, sweetie. The weird memories of being in a hospital room with doctors talking about how you can't do the things you've been doing? The crazy combat skills you never knew you had? The way it comes so easily to you, killing the Alliance's aces and officers? I'm ringing a bell here, aren't I?"

"You're lying...!" Emily moaned, cut off again by the Calamity.

"_**KILL ME!**_" the Calamity's pilot shrieked.

"Isn't it strange how everyone's calling you the Angel of Death?" Monique laughed. "Like it's your destiny or something! Oh, if only they _knew!_"

"_You're lying!_" Emily screamed back.

"But you know I'm not!"

Emily grimaced as the Calamity opened fire again, desperately dodging its shots. "I'm not like that..."

—

**Phantom Island**

"_Minerva_ has sustained damage. Gundams engaged."

Crayt sat back with a grin in the cockpit of her Euclid as it warmed up in the hangar. The _Minerva_ was trapped and facing a war of attrition that it could not possibly win. O'Brien could handle the control room now, and Monique would take down the Twilight, Sven would take down the Destiny, and Danilov would take down the _Minerva_.

"Marshal," the hangar operator started, "course clear. Timing is yours."

Crayt smiled. There was one more loose end to tie up, and it would be so sweet to do so.

"Crayt Markav, Euclid, taking off!"

The Euclid lurched forward with a roar.

_Now then, Rau Le Creuset, you have nowhere to run._

—

Swords met swords as the Strike Noir and Destiny Gundam slugged it out, spiraling down towards Havilland's flailing fleet. The Noir slalomed past the Destiny's furious sword stroke, wrapping its foot-mounted anchors around the Destiny's leg and swinging the Gundam down towards one of the smoldering destroyers below.

"Shit—!" Shinn started, firing the thrusters and taking off as the Noir opened fire with its railguns. An instant later, the Blu Duel was upon him, beam saber raised—Shinn blocked the blow with his sword and shouldered the Blu Duel aside. The Verde Buster showered him with beam fire and missiles, and before he could stop them, they were already pounding the Destiny's Phase Shift armor and throwing it towards the sea.

The Noir burst through the smoke, bringing its swords down with a crash. Shinn snarled in fury and hurled the Noir back with sheer force, charging through and knocking the Noir back again.

Shinn tightened his fists around the Destiny's controls as the Noir came shrieking back in.

—

The Legend's sensors were a second behind Rau's senses as he whirled around to face his latest opponent. The pressure was unmistakable, and Rau could not help but grin at the gleaming white Euclid mobile armor fast approaching.

"How do you like my little trap, Rau Le Creuset?" cackled Crayt Markav as the Euclid swung into battle. The Legend took off, dodging beam blasts.

"Pride cometh before the fall, Sister Markav," Rau answered with a grin.

"Use all the rhetorical flourish you want," Crayt laughed, the Euclid firing off a volley of missiles. "Nothing will save you now. This is not the wrath of humans, but the wrath of God!"

The Legend pitched towards the ocean, pulling up and cutting down the missiles with CIWS fire, only to be forced on the defensive again by another beam salvo from the Euclid. "It seems to be just humans to me," Rau remarked.

"And that is where you are wrong!" Crayt cried, the Euclid pitching down after him. "I am the servant of God, and here and today, I shall execute His will and _destroy you!_" The Euclid tore over the water's surface, pursuing the dodging Legend. "You are mere and pathetic, because you manipulate only the world of flesh and sin! But now you are hunted by _angels!_"

Rau grinned psychotically even as the Legend took a barrage of fire to its beam shields. "Interesting that you should mention _angels_," he said. "Perhaps those angels include the one in _our_ company?"

"Powerless," scoffed Crayt, "and soon to be disposed of—_just like you!_"

Rau's grin only widened. "I wonder about that."

—

"So, tell me about your mother," laughed Monique, as the Twilight reeled under the Calamity's punishing railgun barrage. "I hear she was a wonderful woman. Pity about her early death."

Emily's eyes flashed angrily. "Shut up!" she shot back. "You don't know anything about her!"

Monique sighed airily as the Calamity rammed the Twilight again. "Are we gonna have to do this the hard way, baby?" she asked. "So do you want to know who really killed her?"

Emily glowered up past the Calamity, at the Morrigan, even as she deflected the Calamity's beam blasts. "_Shut up!_"

"I know it must _haunt_ you every night, to know that she died and to not really have any answers," Monique went on. "But _I've_ got those answers. You wanna know?"

The Calamity charged again, its Scylla cannon blazing. Emily ground her teeth, seizing her chance to lunge beneath the blasts and destroy the cannon with a quick horizontal cut. The Calamity pummeled her in response with bazooka shells.

"They had your sister first," laughed Monique, "because of those _powers_. Those powers of yours came from your mother, and they had your sister to pass them on. But poor little Viveka was a failure, so they had _you!_"

Emily reeled as the Twilight went careening towards the sea, showered with shells from the Calamity, and she struggled to wrap her mind around the idea. Her mother, with Newtype powers, and herself, born to carry them on—?

"But your mother didn't take that whole childbirth thing too well," continued Monique, "and spent seven years languishing before she finally died." Her eyes flashed vindictively. "So you wanna know who killed your dear mother?"

The Calamity opened fire again, as Emily looked up at the Morrigan.

"It was _you!_"

The shells impacted, the world spun, and the seed burst.

Filling the sky with a screen of twisting metal, the Twilight burst out of the smoke, anti-ship sword drawn, and plunged the blade into the Calamity's cockpit. Without stopping, Emily left the blade skewered through the Calamity and charged, drawing both her beam sabers and slamming them together to form a shining beam sword.

"_SHUT UP!_"

The Morrigan drew a beam saber and brought it down with a crash, stopping the Twilight cold. The black Gundam's beam wings flashed to life, and the Twilight threw back the Morrigan.

Monique grinned. "_This_ is more like it!"

"_You don't know anything!_" Emily screamed, as the Twilight swung furiously at the Morrigan, and the Morrigan expertly deflected all its blows. "_You don't know her!_"

"Jeez, just imagine if I'd told a 'your momma' joke," Monique giggled. "You can yell at me all you want, darling, but it won't change anything. You are what you are—and what you are is a weapon!"

The Morrigan stunned the Twilight with a punishing kick to the chest. Emily grunted as her Gundam went reeling, and a moment later, two long guns folded out from behind the Morrigan's back, and the Twilight staggered back under a point-blank railgun shot.

"Is this all you've got?" Monique asked, as the Morrigan closed in. "I saw those reports from Novorossiysk. You kicked _ass_. What's going on here?"

The Morrigan brought its saber down, driving the Twilight back. Emily surged forward to throw the Morrigan off guard, but the Morrigan responded with another kick, before peppering the Twilight's armor with beam machinegun rounds and scarring its armor.

"You're disappointing me here, baby," she went on, grinning like a maniac. "I mean, I come here all excited for a real fight and you just sit here crying and letting me knock you around?" The Morrigan charged again, pounding its way into a swordfight.

"_Shut up!_" Emily snarled. "_I don't care what you say!_"

The Twilight stabbed forward with its sword, aiming for the Morrigan's cockpit, only for the Morrigan to jet aside—and deliver a jarring backhand to the Twilight's face.

"It's cute how you keep refusing to admit it," Monique said, "like you've got a choice in it or something." The Twilight swung around, only for the Morrigan to bring down its saber down with a crash, tearing a sparking gash in the Gundam's torso. Emily screamed as shrapnel filled her cockpit, tearing over her, and grabbed her shoulder as it slowly oozed red. "What's even cuter, though, is that even though you keep refusing to be what you are, you're still doing it anyway!"

Emily blinked away the blood, and winced as the stinging pain told her of a bleeding cut on the side of her head. On the auxiliary screen, Monique saw the blood and her eyes flashed like an animal.

"Oh, such a shame I had to screw up that pretty face," she laughed. "So have you had enough yet, or am I gonna have to screw up that pretty face some more?"

Emily's eyes flashed, and the Twilight charged.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"Parsifal, _fire!_"

The _Minerva_ rumbled as its missile launchers came to life, only for the _Charlemagne_ to cut them out of the sky meters from their launch tubes with a CIWS burst. The ship lurched as Malik threw it into a dive, barely avoiding another beam barrage.

"They have us pinned—!" Abbey started, only to be cut off by another roar, and the _Minerva_ rattled from explosions below. Meyrin groaned at the sight of the remains of the Alliance fleet below, pumping shells into the _Minerva's_ armor.

"There's got to be a way out of this," she murmured. "Chen, prepare the Tannhäuser!"

Too late—the _Charlemagne_'s own missiles lifted off as the Tannhäuser's compartment swung open, and with a thunderous explosion that sent the winged warship shuddering back, the Tannhäuser exploded under a hail of warheads.

Meyrin stared ruefully through the smoke, at the _Minerva's_ ruined prow. And even then, only for a moment—because an instant later the sky around the _Charlemagne_ flashed gold.

"Captain, energy spike in the _Charlemagne!_ They're charging something!"

"Malik, _evade!_"

The _Minerva_ groaned and struggled against gravity, rising into the air—only for a monstrous golden blast to lance out from the _Charlemagne_'s prow, slicing by underneath the _Minerva's_ stern and ripping the armor open. Another sickening explosion rocked the ship, and before Malik could report it, Meyrin knew that the _Charlemagne_ had taken out her ship's levitator.

"Captain, we're losing altitude! Power outputs dropping!"

"Close off the bulkheads!" Abbey cried. "All hands, prepare for impact!" She turned towards Meyrin. "Captain, now what?"

_Are we going to die?_ Meyrin wondered, and then shook her head. _No! We're not dying here! Not yet! I'm not going to lose Talia's ship like this!_

"We still have the Tristans!" she shouted. "Keep the weapons at full power and reroute all other power to the laminated armor and engines! Take it from the auxiliary reactor if you have to! Flank speed!"

The _Charlemagne_ loomed above them, but Meyrin forced down her fear. Wellington was out there. He said he was. She just had to hold on.

—

The Infinite Justice rocked as the Zamzazar's firepower came crashing against its beam shield, and Athrun turned his dull, lightless eyes towards the hulking mobile armor. It came crashing down towards him, claws agape, and brought them down on the beam shield with a crash, throwing the Justice back.

"Viveka, now!"

The Savior lunged up from behind and hurled its shield forward, and then swung its rifle up to open fire, bouncing beam bolts off the shield and pounding the Zamzazar's underside. The mobile armor fired off a barrage from its rear-facing guns, blowing the Savior's rifle out of its hand—

"Not yet!" The Savior charged forward, diving through the Zamzazar's firepower, drawing its second beam saber. The Zamzazar punched forward with its rear right-hand claw, tearing off the Savior's right arm at the elbow—but not before Viveka plunged her left-hand saber into the Zamzazar's claw and ripped the mobile armor's entire arm off. The Zamzazar batted the crippled Savior aside with its claw, whirling around with smoke pouring from its wound—

"_Forgetting someone?_" Athrun roared, and the sky split in two as the Infinite Justice came screaming out of the heavens, and with a spine-jarring shriek, cut off both of the Zamzazar's front two claws with a backhanded saber swipe. The Zamzazar belched smoke, its remaining gun turning towards the Justice—

And too late, as the Justice plunged its beam blade into the Zamzazar's cockpit, ripping the mobile armor's upper surface open and pouring a volley of beam cannon shots into the opening. The Zamzazar sparked and flailed as it sank towards the sea and finally exploded.

Athrun watched his foe die with heavy breath, and looked up at Viveka's mangled Savior. All it had left was its CIWS and a beam saber clutched in its left hand. How could she still fight like that?

And the Savior lurched forward as something struck it from behind. Athrun turned his sights towards the horizon, grinding his teeth at the sight of another Windam squadron, the leader wielding a bazooka. The Justice leapt in front of the Savior, beam shield deployed as the Windams opened fire.

"Stay behind me," Athrun instructed. "I'll handle them."

"Athrun—" Viveka began.

"Do what I say, goddammit!" Athrun shot back. "You've got half a mobile suit left and you still want to fight? All you'll do is get yourself killed!" The Justice rocked as the Windams concentrated their fire on its beam shield. "Now, stay back!"

The Justice's eyes flashed, and it charged as the Windams closed in.

—

"I can't get close...!" growled Stella as the Gaia Gundam spiraled through a wave of firepower. The titanic Gelzuge before her came barreling in close, beam saber alight in its hand, and brought it down onto the Gaia's saber with a crash. Sparks flying, the Gelzuge swung its saber to the side, slashing the Gaia's beam rifle in two and blowing it out of the Gaia's hand. The Gelzuge's left-hand claw came down, beam blade alight—

Instead, the Gaia thrust out its free right hand, catching the claw below its beam blade. With a scream, Stella threw the throttle wide open, rocketing up into the air. The Gelzuge lurched as the Gaia's entire thruster output dragged it up into the sky, and then shuddered as Stella brought her own beam saber down through the claw, tearing it off along with the Gelzuge's left arm.

"I have a home!" Stella screamed, drawing her second beam saber and plunging down towards the Gelzuge. The Gaia quaked as the Gelzuge claimed its left leg at the knee, only to see the Gaia lop off its right-hand claw. "I have friends!" The Gaia quaked again as the Gelzuge shot off the Gaia's right-hand shoulder armor and left-hand hip armor, but the Gelzuge shuddered as the Gaia sawed off its right arm. The Gelzuge fell back, its missile compartments flashing open・

Stella's eyes went dull, the Gaia's eyes lit up, and the black Gundam darted down, beam sabers held high.

"_I'll protect them!_"

The Gelzuge threw sparks and smoke as the Gaia stabbed both its sabers deep into the mobile armor's main body. Screaming all the way, Stella somersaulted over the Gelzuge's torso and slammed her sabers back down into the Gelzuge behind its torso—and then took off, ripping the mobile armor in two and letting it die behind her in a thunderous explosion.

Stella glanced over her shoulder at the alarm's insistence, catching sight of yet more enemies. "Even you...!"

The Windams opened fire and charged, and the Gaia charged forward, beam sabers held high. The Windams leveled off bazookas and missiles, opening fire, and the weakened Gaia groaned as its Phase Shift armor took the brunt of the ordnance.

Stella narrowed her eyes, squinting through the smoke and fire. "I have to live...!"

—

Smoke and sparks flying, the Chaos Gundam struggling to hold the Zamzazar's titanic claw off with only its beam saber. At last the mobile armor overpowered him, throwing him back, and he leveled off his rifle—only for the Zamzazar to rip the Chaos' entire left arm off and hurl it aside.

"Goddammit!" Sting cried. "I'm running out of weapons here—!"

The Abyss Gundam came streaking out of the heavens, piercing the Zamzazar's positron reflector with its lance and forcing its way through with sheer momentum, stabbing its beam blade into the Zamzazar's front left-hand claw. With a crash, Auel ripped the entire claw off, impaled on the Abyss's lance, and brought it back down with a crash onto the Zamzazar's armor.

"_Motherfucker!_" screamed Auel, freeing his lance with a kick and tearing a gash in the Zamzazar's armor. The remaining guns turned on him, pounding its shoulder shells and blowing off the Abyss's arm at the elbow. "_Fuck you!_"

The Abyss backed away, firing its remaining weapons wildly as the Zamzazar swiped at it with its right claw—only for the Chaos to come barreling out of nowhere, Sting screaming, and stab the claw through its plasma cannon with a beam saber. The mobile armor shuddered as its right-hand claw exploded—and Sting took his opportunity to plunge forward, punching his saber through the positron reflector and into the Zamzazar's cockpit.

"Goddammit, we're not doing good here," Sting breathed, backing away as the Zamzazar broke in two with a fiery explosion. "Auel, you okay in there?"

"For fuck's sake, look at my machine, Sting! Does it _look_ okay to you?" Auel shot back.

Sting glanced over his shoulder. "Split up!" The two Gundams rocketed apart, as another mobile suit team came streaking in, beam rifles and bazookas blazing. Sting spiraled up above their shots, only for a bazooka shell to catch the Chaos in the face, throwing it back.

Sting clenched his teeth as his Gundam fell, fighting for control. "Dammit...are we gonna die like this?"

—

The Twilight went reeling under the Morrigan's beam saber blows, and Emily ground her teeth as the Morrigan closed in for another attack. She stabbed forward with the Twilight's beam sword, only for the Morrigan to expertly parry her blade and slam the sparking Twilight with a kick to the chest.

"Are you _afraid_ to use all that power or something?" Monique asked with a sigh. "By now you should've gone all angry and started fighting back like nobody's business." The Morrigan charged again, pounding its saber repeatedly against the Twilight's sword and driving the faltering black Gundam back. "That's what you did against Shoyou! That's what you did against Meyers! That's what you did in Volgograd and Novorossiysk! You _always_ find ways to tap into that power! So where is it now, huh?"

The Twilight thrust forward with its arm, hand opened wide and palm cannon activated—only for the Morrigan to duck aside and pummel the Gundam with another kick to the back.

"And all these openings you're giving me! You're fighting sloppy, missy!"

Emily whirled around and charged again, beam sword held high—only for the Morrigan's saber to stop her blade cold, and the Morrigan fired back with a point-blank railgun burst to send the Twilight flying. Emily howled in pain as she was thrown back into her seat and clutched her throbbing, bleeding shoulder.

"So, _are you afraid?_"

The Morrigan snapped up its saber, charging in, blade held high—

And then...it was falling. Smoke and fire flashed up around the Morrigan as missiles impacted on its armor, over and over again. The Morrigan swiped furiously at the missiles with its beam saber, only for a storm of firepower to throw it further back.

"What the hell is this—?" screamed Monique, cut off as more rounds crashed against her machine. "Reinforcements? Phantom Island, come in—!"

The image on the screen was one of chaos, as red lights flashed, sparks flew, and smoke billowed in Phantom Pain's control room. General O'Brien appeared, a sheen of sweat glistening on his skin around a patch of blood on the side of his head.

"Lieutenant du Prey, get back to Phantom Island! We're under attack!"

"Attack?" Monique echoed. "What—how?"

She glanced back at the smoking, flaming mountain of Phantom Island—and gasped in disbelief, finding it surrounded by six _Petrie_-class landships and a _Lesseps_-class. Phantom Island's weapons were blazing, but to no avail—because the sky was filled with mobile suits, and all at once, they lit up in a storm of flashing monoeyes.

"Those machines...don't tell me they're ZAFT!"

The Morrigan took off, diving low beneath a barrage of beams and angling for Phantom Island.

In the Twilight, Emily blinked in pain and squeezed her shoulder, as her Gundam rattled. It had stopped falling—she looked to the right, and blinked again at the sight of a purple and red mobile suit with a shimmering pink monoeye turned on her. The auxiliary screen flickered to life, and Emily looked up at the wide blue eyes of a boy in a green flight suit.

The boy searched for words for a moment, and Emily could see he was scanning over her injuries. "Emily von Oldendorf, right?" he asked. Emily opened her mouth to speak, but only managed a weak nod. "I'm Isaac Kenner, of the Walker Team. Are you alright in there?"

Emily sat back, easing up the pressure on her shoulder and glancing down at it. She would probably have a scar from this. "I-I think so..." she groaned.

Isaac risked a smile. "Good thing we got here when we did," he said. "I'll take you back to the _Minerva_, if it's okay with you."

The _Minerva_. Emily's heart raced as she remembered her beleaguered home. "They're still—?" She shook her head; of course they had found a way through it. "Um, thank you, Isaac..."

Isaac blinked in surprise, and then glanced away awkwardly. "S-Sure." The screen went dark, and Emily leaned forward, squeezing her eyes shut and clutching her bleeding shoulder again, with far too much on her mind.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"What..._is_ all this?"

Abbey and the rest of the bridge crew stared in disbelief as an army of ZAFT mobile suits pounded the stunned Phantom Pain out of the sky and smashed their Island to pieces. What was left of the fleet was rapidly diminishing under the torpedoes of six _Vosgulov_-class submarines; what was left of Phantom Island and the mobile suit force was similarly dwindling under the guns of seven land battleships and several dozen mobile suits. A Jet Dark Windam came streaking towards the _Minerva_, beam saber in hand, charging towards the bridge—only to be shot out of the sky by a squad of ZAKU Warriors.

"It seems, Captain Hawke, that this time, _we_ are the savior," a booming voice laughed. The auxiliary screen lit up with the barrel-chested Oliver Wellington, standing with arms crossed on the bridge of the _Lesseps_. "Oliver Wellington, commandant of the ZAFT Forces Base Carpentaria, at your service."

Meyrin simply smiled and tried not to breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're here."

"We would have radioed beforehand, but that would have spoiled our surprise for the jackboots," Wellington continued, nodding his head contemptuously towards Phantom Island. "Are you all alright in there?"

Meyrin shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "They took out our levitator and most of our armaments," she said. "We'll have to get straight to port for some repairs."

Wellington merely grinned. "Understood. We'll take care of the rest."

—

The cockpit of the Euclid was silent as Crayt Markav surveyed the scene. Breaking off her duel with Rau and rushing back here at the sound of ZAFT's guns, and _this_ was what waited for her? Phantom Island burned on the water, steadily sinking into the sea. So much money, so many resources, so many soldiers, all becoming nothing more than a navigational hazard for the Strait of Hormuz.

The Euclid descended down in front of the control room. Crayt sneered—despite the heavy damage, O'Brien remained behind, directing the evacuation and supervising the men as they frantically worked to beat the rising waters. O'Brien looked up in surprise at the sight of Crayt's bone-white Euclid.

"Marshal, we're just about to begin the evacuation," O'Brien reported. "These ZAFT ships must have had Mirage Colloid or something—"

"We had the _Minerva_ at death's door," Crayt said through the loudspeaker, her sneer twisting into a furious scowl. "Do you know what happens to those who fail God, general?"

O'Brien blinked as the color drained from his face. "Marshal..."

"They _perish!_"

The Euclid opened fire, and the control room and all those inside disappeared in a blast of fire. Crayt snarled as she pumped round after round into Phantom Island, until the tower vanished beneath a thundering explosion and the main body of the massive hovercraft began to sink below a great column of smoke.

Crayt let out an even breath, relishing the feeling of the sinners and failures' lives melting away beneath her. Be it God or the Phantom Pain, failure of either was intolerable, and that—

The Euclid shuddered as a beam barrage slammed into its side. Crayt snapped her attention to her left, only for the Euclid to take another hit, and its left-hand engine finally gave way and exploded. The broken mobile armor belched smoke and staggered towards the sea. Crayt looked up in disbelief, and found there none other than the Legend Gundam and Rau Le Creuset.

The Legend took off without a word as the Euclid crashed into the water, and Crayt pounded her fist against the console.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

Ivan Danilov rubbed his temples painfully as he felt a headache coming on. They had the _Minerva _trapped, their levitator down, their weapons almost all destroyed, their Gundams all damaged or pinned...and still they had an escape. How?

"Our mobile suit force is reporting significant damage and several casualties," Vera reported from the XO console. "And the _Minerva_ and its Gundams are escaping."

_Of course they are,_ Danilov snarled mentally. _How could we have not seen this coming? Damn it all._

"Contact Captain Bayan and order a general retreat. What of Phantom Island?"

Danilov looked up, and Vera simply pointed out the bridge windows. Phantom Island was slipping beneath the waves, somewhere underneath a tower of smoke and fire.

"And the marshal?"

"Her mobile armor is disabled in the water. She's not responding to hails. General O'Brien seems to have been killed as well."

If Phantom Island was destroyed, with General O'Brien dead and Marshal Markav out of action, then that left him in charge. At last, Danilov sat up and shook his head. "Contact all Phantom Pain units. In lieu of the marshal, I am ordering a full retreat. All forces are to proceed to Dubai Naval Station."

As Vera and the bridge crew set about their task, Danilov eyed the smoking _Minerva_ carefully.

_Well, _Minerva_, if there's one thing I've learned today, it's that you are not invincible._

—

Isaac Kenner, as it turned out, was a mere teenager when he dismounted his BABI mobile suit on the _Minerva's_ deck to help Emily stagger off of the Twilight's zip line. Emily groaned in pain as his hand brushed over her wounded shoulder, and he drew back in surprise.

"That's a lot of blood..." he started. "Um, we better get you to the infirmary or something."

"I'll be okay," Emily insisted. "I've been through worse." She got back to her feet and eased off the pressure on her shoulder, relieved that it wasn't bleeding anymore and there was just burning pain. "Thank you for helping me out back there, by the way," she added with a smile.

Isaac blinked in surprise, and Emily watched as he fumbled for words. "Um, well, it was no big deal, really," he started.

Emily tried not to blush at how easy her newest savior was to read.

"Anyway, um, I have to get back to my ship," Isaac said, gesturing over his shoulder towards one of the _Vosgulov_ submarines cruising alongside the battered _Minerva_. "Commander Walker's probably gonna kick my ass for taking so long here."

Emily arched an eyebrow as a thought occurred to her. "Tell him you were tending to the Angel of Death," she said, turning towards the hangar while the _Minerva's_ mechanics pulled in her bruised and beaten Twilight.

Isaac smiled and offered a mock salute. "Yes ma'am," he said, and turned back towards his BABI with a beaming grin.

—

To be continued...


	37. Phase 37: The Guns Are Silent

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 37 - The Guns Are Quiet

—

**March 20th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Indian Ocean**

The _Minerva_ lay lashed between two _Petrie _-class landships on the water, and towed by the _Lesseps_, surrounded by the rest of the fleet. That was a relief to Abes, who had no desire to run the engines any longer than necessary. And that, in turn, was a relief to Meyrin, who had no desire to sit dead in the water trying to fix her ship's engines before an Alliance unit noticed that they were not moving.

Which, in turn, was also good because Abes had to fix all the Gundams.

Meyrin stood on the bridge, still lowered into its combat configuration to save energy. The damage reports were finally coming in, and as expected, they were not pretty.

"Tannhäuser destroyed, Isolde destroyed, nine out of twelve CIWS emplacements destroyed, fifteen out of twenty-four missile tubes destroyed, all four torpedo launchers destroyed, levitator incapacitated, thirty-four crew wounded..." Abbey read, trailing off with a sigh.

"Wow, we got fucked," Roxy added, punctuating with a slug of beer.

"That's one way to put it," agreed Meyrin. "And repairs to the mobile suits?"

"Just started," answered Abbey. "Only the Destiny, Twilight, Legend, and Justice are combat-capable right now. If we're attacked, we'll need to rely on Wellington's fleet for protection."

Meyrin sat back with a sigh. Her instincts told her that the Phantom Pain would not bother with another attack after expending so many resources in the Strait of Hormuz and coming up short...but had it not been for Wellington, the Phantom Pain would not have come up short.

She tried to clear the doubts from her mind and review the battle. The _Charlemagne_ had stood up to even direct hits from the _Minerva's_ Tristans, something that should at least left some scoring on the armor. Either they carried much stronger laminate armor or they had some other defensive system installed. And either way, they had never managed to even fire the Tannhäuser, so there was no telling what _could_ damage the ship—and the idea of an invincible warship was not particularly comforting when the ship was on the other side of the battlefield. And, of course, thirty-four crew wounded by the barrage. The doctor had assured her that they would recover, at least, but not for a long time in some cases.

"On the bright side," Burt offered, "our course from here to Carpentaria is clear, captain."

Thank God for the bright side. "Then I'll be in my quarters," Meyrin said, standing up. "I'll leave the bridge to you, Abbey. Inform me if anything comes up."

Meyrin headed out the door and rubbed her eyes, wondering what Talia would think of her right now.

—

The Twilight had not lost any limbs and most of its weapons were easily replaced, so it was clearly the low priority for repairs. That left Emily to stand helplessly on the gantry in front of her silent Gundam, staring pensively at its darkened eyes. It still bore the bruises and scars of the battle at Hormuz, but at least it was still mostly whole.

Emily leaned forward on the rail, staring into her Gundam's eyes, at her own dim reflection, wracking her brain for memories. Every image of her mother was one of a kind, frail, quiet woman confined to a bed. She had always been ill for as long as Emily could remember, and had died so early in her life. But Lorelei von Oldendorf had been there for her daughters in the only way she could.

Next to the memories of a kindly, sickly woman, Emily had the mysterious images of labs, soldiers, scientists, the terrifying bearded man in a crisp business suit, and her own burning pain and agonizing exhaustion. And the most sickening thing of all was that the words of that witch in the Morrigan Gundam made sense. How could a woman as ill as Lorelei von Oldendorf have two children? Where could those memories of soldiers and scientists have come from? Why did her father seem unconcerned when Lorelei died? And even the questions that began with her time on the _Minerva_: how could she have survived, much less defeated Earth Alliance pilots in combat? How could she have first caught the eye of Shinn Asuka?

Until now, she realized, she had not understood just want it meant to be the Angel of Death. To accept this power, to accept the fact that her mother languished and died to give it to her...perhaps she was not so willing to do that.

Emily looked up at the feeling of another human approaching, and glanced over in surprise. The hangar was crawling with mechanics and soldiers, and only some of them were part of the _Minerva's_ crew. The rest had come from the ZAFT fleet—and it was only now, when she concentrated on others, that she felt a disquieting aura of resentment from some of those soldiers.

The closest one, however, claimed her attention quickly enough, and Isaac Kenner greeted her with a smile. "I see you got patched up."

Emily smiled back weakly. "I've still been through worse than that."

"Like what?" he asked, coming to a stop next to her. Emily eyed him for a moment.

"Well, the Phantom Pain tortured me one time," she said with a shrug, and then winced and clutched her shoulder as the wound reminded her of itself. "And there was the time I passed out in the cockpit and woke up in the infirmary."

"That's not healthy." Isaac glanced up at the Twilight. "Well, um, anyways, glad to hear you're okay. Some of us were pretty worried."

Emily glanced over at the green-uniformed boy. "'Some?'"

Her smile faded when she noticed that it was not mutual, and Isaac shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Well, uh, not everyone is a fan," he started. "I mean, some of these guys are really old ZAFT. Y'know, veterans. Junius War."

"I'll watch my step, then," Emily said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

—

Shinn Asuka glanced up wearily from the table in the crew lounge at the sound of something hard and glass coming down on it, and blearily read the label of a wide black bottle.

"Where do you keep getting this stuff?" he asked, glancing up at the hand and the arm and the person it was attached to. Roxy merely dropped herself into the seat opposite Shinn with a pair of glasses and ice.

"We all have our secrets," she answered. "Want some?"

Shinn glanced back at the bottle. "We almost died."

"Only _almost_," Roxy clarified, pouring herself a glass. "So, I celebrate another successful cheating of death with Irish cream. It makes perfect sense."

"Where you come from, maybe," Shinn answered. "Gimme."

Roxy poured him a glass and sat back with her own, a devil's grin on her face. "Bad mood?"

Shinn eyed her incredulously over the rim of his cup. "_We almost died._"

"We 'almost die' all the time, when you think about it," Roxy pointed out. "But, hey, look at the bright side. We didn't _actually_ die."

"Not good enough," Shinn replied.

"Y'know, it's not your job to protect us all the time. You aren't responsible for all of us." Roxy paused, choosing her words for a moment, and leaned over the table. "I mean, it wasn't your fault."

Silence reigned for a moment, before Shinn shook his head. "You can say that," he said, "but I won't believe it. It's my fault, and it's my responsibility."

"You're gonna get yourself killed one day thinking that," Roxy said.

"Maybe," Shinn agreed, "but that's better than getting other people killed."

Roxy poured herself another glass. "Not to me."

—

"Commander Le Creuset," boomed Oliver Wellington, seizing the masked man's hand in a firm shake in the _Minerva's_ hangar, "I'm glad to see you've fallen in with such esteemed company."

"I ride with the best," Rau said with a shrug and a smirk. "I was wondering if you've heard from our comrades at Mars yet."

Rau noted the immediate darkening of Wellington's mood, although it did not appear on his face. Apparently the relationship was not a friendly one. "Marshal Sunogachi communicates with me only sporadically," Wellington explained, "and the last message I received from her was in January. I suppose it has something to do with the distance."

"And what might ZAFT's angel be up to at Mars?" asked Rau, a few guesses already surfacing.

Wellington shrugged. "I heard that she had been dealing with Martian opposition," he said, "but she said in her last message that it was under control. Her orders to me were to hold down the fort until she arrives, and I have no timetable for that or anything."

"I see." Rau put a hand to his chin in thought. Surely Valentine was up to something at Mars—and she had Kira out there with her. "Not even any hints?"

"It's like she forgets that we're fighting our own war here too."

Rau expertly masked his glee. Valentine had not turned out to be so great a leader as she thought. So many resources still here on Earth that she could take advantage of—or was she? "Has she asked you to send anything back to Mars?"

Wellington shrugged again. "Basics, mostly. Water. Some minerals. Plant seeds. The Martian colonies are fairly self-sufficient, so they don't really need much." He paused, and Rau picked up the faint feeling of recollection. "And she asked for a detachment of my men to investigate the base at Antarctica for something."

"Oh?"

"They found blueprints for something called a 'ZAKU Goliath...'"

Whatever else Wellington said, Rau did not hear, because the words danced through his mind. The ZAKU Goliath? In Valentine's hands? Could she be building that thing? But there were parts it needed—could it be?

"I'm afraid I can't be much help here, commander," Wellington said with a frown.

Rau shook his head with a grin. "No, no, commandant, you've been more than helpful."

_The ZAKU Goliath...but _I_ have the key!_

—

Athrun Zala knew who was on the other side of the door before he opened it, but when the door opened, he did not quite expect to be lifted bodily off the ground and tossed back into his room by a conspicuous mechanical arm, whose owner shut the door behind her.

"So, now that you can't avoid me anymore," began a most displeased Viveka, "you and I are going to talk."

Athrun wearily got back to his feet. "Where does the judo throw figure into all this?"

"Why are you avoiding me?" demanded Viveka. "This is getting ridiculous. I'm not letting you out of here until you finally tell me why you won't open up to me." She shook her metal fist.

"Threatening to kill me is probably a bad way to start," Athrun began.

"You told me out there," Viveka said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder, "that you've had lots of friends tell you that they'd be okay and then they got killed. What's up with that?"

"It's not important," Athrun started, only for Viveka to seize him by the collar.

"It is to me!" she snapped. "_You're_ important to me!"

"You think I don't know that?" Athrun shot back.

"Then _act like it!_"

She went silent as she noticed the cold look Athrun had fixed on her, and opened her mouth to speak again, but he waved her off.

"You want to know about my past?" he asked, as he freed himself from her grip. "Alright, I'll tell you." He threw off his jacket, ignoring Viveka's surprised sputtering, and rolled up his sleeve past his shoulder. "You see that?"

Viveka eyed the discolored mark for a moment. "You're showing _me_ a scar from a gunshot wound?"

"That came from my father," Athrun said, Viveka falling silent again, and he rolled his sleeve back down. "I was a ZAFT soldier. A ZAFT Red. My comrades and I stole some Gundams from the Alliance in CE 71, only to find a childhood friend piloting the one that we didn't steal. We fought each other reluctantly for a few months, until he killed one of my comrades, I killed one of his, and I clamped my mobile suit onto his and self-destructed it."

"Athrun, I—"

"When I got back home, I found out that my fiancée had stolen the Freedom Gundam from ZAFT," Athrun continued, anger flickering in his eyes. "My father told me to find it and gave me the Justice, its sister unit. I tracked it down to Orb, and I discovered that my friend was still alive, and he was piloting that thing."

Viveka blinked in disbelief. "Kira Yamato—?"

"I decided to desert, but went back to my father," Athrun went on, "thinking that I could persuade him to see reason. Instead, he shot me and I only escaped thanks to Lacus' followers. I went back and joined Kira in ending the war, but that all went to hell during Jachin Due, and Kira defected to ZAFT. I went with Cagalli in hopes of taking back Orb from the Seiran family, who were turning it into a puppet of the Atlantic Federation—but every move we made ended in failure and the Seirans only grew stronger. We tried to intervene in the invasion of Orb in 73, and Kira killed Cagalli."

"Athrun, I get it—" Viveka started.

"Lacus took over after that, and Shinn joined us a few days later," he went on, "and we tried to stop the war from getting any worse the way we did in 71. We went all the way to the Battle of Solomon's Sword. The _Megami_ was destroyed, Lacus and everyone else was killed, and when it was all over, Shinn, Stella, and I were the only survivors of the Orb Raiders." He shrugged his shoulders, a contemptuous scowl on his face. "And there's the fucking story. Are you happy?"

At that, Viveka frowned. "Look, I know you've had a rocky past—"

"And not too long ago you asked me about this," Athrun continued, pulling out the conspicuous red pendant from underneath his shirt. "And I told you that Cagalli gave it to me, did I not?"

"Y-Yeah," Viveka started, shrinking from the flickering light in his eyes as he curled his fingers around the tiny red stone.

"She interrogated me after Orb found me washed up on the beach, after my battle with the Strike," Athrun said. "She gave this to me before I left to go back to the PLANTs, and told me that it would protect me." He opened his fist again, eyeing the tiny red stone, and Viveka shivered at the flash of pain in his eyes. "I am not a superstitious man, but I'm starting to feel like it _has_ protected me." His eyes flashed again, this time with anger. "And for what? A world where Coordinators are being hunted down and killed, and the Alliance rules everything with an iron fist, and Orb is a province of the Atlantic Federation? Shinn and Stella joined the Orb Raiders only a couple weeks before Solomon's Sword, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm the last Orb Raider. And _this_ is what they all died for?" He cast his eyes furiously down at the stone again. "I _promised_ her that I would stand by her side and help her build a haven in this Godforsaken world for the people who wanted peace. The rest of the world could kill each other until no one was left, but brick by brick, we were going to make a place for the people who were as tired of fighting as we were. And look at that now!"

"Athrun—" Viveka started again.

"So now you want to know why I'm not going to just 'move on,'" he said. "Now you want to know why I'm not interested in your romantic advances."

"W-Who said anything about romantic advances?" sputtered Viveka.

Athrun tapped the side of his head. "You can hide your thoughts from me, but you can't hide your feelings," he shot back. "And I think I've made mine clear."

Viveka rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Well, can you blame me?" she asked. "So we've both had shitty lives. Don't you think you should—"

"I am a soldier," interrupted Athrun, eyes flashing. "I don't forget my comrades."

"I'm not asking you to," Viveka sputtered, but she fell silent at the look in Athrun's eyes. He stared back at her, and Viveka slumped her shoulders. "You went out of your way to protect me in battle."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, then you're not hopeless yet," she answered. "I'm not asking you to forget about them—"

Athrun pushed past her, the door sliding open with a hiss. "You are my friend and my wingman," he said. "I rely on you to watch my back and make sure I get back home alive; and I do the same for you. Of course I protect you in battle, even though you don't need it."

"Is that all you want? A wingman?"

"It's all I need."

Athrun brushed by her and marched out the door.

—

**March 21st, CE 77 - Dubai Naval Station, Dubai, United Arab Emirates**

"An entire fleet, sunk," Lord Djibril intoned ominously, his image flickering upon the screen as he sat back in his screening room with a supremely displeased look on his face. "Phantom Island, destroyed. Were you aware, marshal, that we sank a quarter of a trillion dollars into developing that thing?"

Standing in the commandant's office of the Dubai Naval Station, fists and teeth clenched, Crayt forced out her words. "Yes, Lord Djibril."

"You had the _Minerva_ trapped in the Strait of Hormuz," Djibril continued, "trapped between Phantom Island, an entire surface fleet, and the _Charlemagne_. And yet the _Minerva_ still lives."

"I know we failed, Lord Djibril," Crayt began.

Lord Djibril sat back, his characteristic black cat hopping off his lap and looking as annoyed as its owner. "Marshal, I made my career in the world of business, and we are required to square all of our successes and failures with the harsh reality of the company's bottom line. If you adversely affect the bottom line, your neck is put on the chopping block. Now tell me, marshal, why I should not do that here?"

"We were caught off guard by the ZAFT Remnant, sir," Crayt started. "They were using Mirage Colloid—"

"I do not want to hear excuses, marshal," Djibril cut her off. "The ZAFT Remnant is supposed to be confined to Australia, pending our eventual operation to retake Carpentaria. That they should have been allowed to put a fleet to sea in the first place is intolerable. That they should have caught your fleet unawares and destroyed it is even worse. Don't you agree, marshal?"

Crayt's blood boiled. "Yes sir."

"Now, marshal," Djibril continued, "I'm sure you understand my position. The _Minerva_ is the symbol of our enemies. We had it trapped and doomed, and yet it wriggled free from our clutches. I'm sure you understand how _terrible_ that looks. So, marshal, if you were in my position, what would you do with the officer who commanded this operation and failed so deeply?"

"I accept responsibility for my failure and will accept my punishment," Crayt said, grinding her teeth as she subserviently bowed her head.

Djibril frowned for a moment. "I will not have you killed," he said at last, "nor will I have you removed from your post. You have seen success in other arenas, and the _Minerva_ has been only a highly conspicuous blemish on an otherwise satisfactory record. But our Carpentaria operation will be drastically changed. I am placing Grand Admiral MacIntyre in overall command of Operation _Typhoon_. I cannot overlook as major a failure as this, you see, marshal."

"I understand, sir," Crayt said.

"Then I will leave you to begin organizing the Phantom Pain forces," Djibril replied. "Admiral MacIntyre will arrive at Yokosuka shortly. Your orders are to travel there and begin marshalling Phantom Pain forces to support his operation to retake Carpentaria."

The screen went dark, and Crayt snarled in rage, stalking out of the room.

—

The Superior Evolutionary Element Destined factor.

It was controversial among scientists, but Sven Cal Bayan had heard of it before. Typically, he heard it only in the mouths of soldiers, of mobile suit pilots who claimed that in the heat of battle they saw a seed fall and burst into a dazzling array of colors, and suddenly the world was clear, their instincts and reflexes optimized, as though they could see the future. Sven had always written such stories off as the result of the hallucinations of the adrenaline-addled brains of tired and anxious soldiers. He had been trained since boyhood to fight and approached it with military precision and calm. He needed no falling seeds.

Which, of course, was absolutely worthless in explaining why he had seen that seed in battle in the Strait of Hormuz.

Sven Cal Bayan hated mysteries, and so once back in the safety of his room, he immediately began devouring what information he could find in the Phantom Pain's databases on the SEED factor. Naturally, they had little to offer: a controversial theory of a factor that determined a species' course of evolution, and if activated by stress and environmental demands, it could, in humans, allow for more efficient use of the brain. But that led to the Newtype theory and Newtypes or not, Sven had no use for such nonsense.

_Nonsense, huh?_ asked that damnable child again. _The mighty Captain Sven Cal Bayan can't feel fear?_

Sven ground his teeth. Of course he could not feel fear. They had trained and disciplined that out of him.

_And look at you now,_ the child shot back. _Are you even still alive?_

_My heart beats. My lungs still breathe. I remain conscious,_ Sven began.

_Oh, like that's all it takes to be alive,_ interrupted the child. _They didn't grind all the fear out of you, or else I wouldn't still be here._

Sven did not answer, blinking once and struggling to refocus on the screen in front of him.

_You want me to stay,_ the child went on,_ because even if they took everything away from you and turned you into a mindless soldier, they couldn't even touch me. And I still want to see the stars. I still want to leave this place and go to Jupiter, or Mars, or wherever else. And I'm still gonna be here, whether you like it or not._

Clenching his fists in anger, Sven stood up with a hiss, willing the voice away.

—

**March 22nd, CE 77 - ZAFT **_**Lesseps**_**-class land battleship **_**Monterrey**_**, Indian Ocean**

"It's not every day we get a course this clear," Oliver Wellington chuckled as he came to a stop next to the _Monterrey_'s captain's chair.

Wellington noted dourly that no one seemed to share his chipper mood. He glanced to the side, at the reason why. Commander Argus was the square-jawed man with a scar running from the corner of his left eye, clothed in a white ZAFT uniform and sitting in one of the command chairs. The _Monterrey_ was technically captained by a thoroughly nondescript man in a green Ground Commander's uniform named Maddock, but it was Commander Argus that set the tone. Burning in his dark eyes was nothing but abject hatred, and that flickering ember turned white-hot when his eyes settled on the _Minerva_.

Wellington winced at the thought. Most soldiers of the Resistance had nothing but admiration for the _Minerva_, but among the tattered army of battered ZAFT veterans and disenfranchised Coordinators collectively known as the ZAFT Remnant, the feeling was much more mixed. Commander Argus was a veteran of the ZAFT space fleet, where one of his ships had been destroyed by Shinn Asuka and his Impulse Gundam; and then he had seen his command obliterated at Antarctica by the Destiny. What could he have but hatred for the hero of the Resistance and the ship he called home?

And yet Wellington knew better than to brand as enemy the ship that had won the rest of the Resistance's love and respect. The fight was thus a constant one, although one that his authority allowed him to win. The younger soldiers, who had joined the ZAFT Remnant after the Junius War, held little animosity for the _Minerva_. But for Argus and his veterans...well, old wounds did not heal.

Commander Argus leaned forward, the hatred still flickering in his eyes. At the very least, he understood his duty. "Sensor, sweep the area again." He glanced over at Wellington. "We may have to reactivate the Mirage Colloid."

"That will be difficult," cautioned Wellington. "We're low on prisms and they may not cover the _Minerva_."

Argus expertly quashed the hatred. "We can't count on a clear path to Carpentaria," he said. "And the Phantom Pain is not about to let their prize get away without a fight."

Wellington merely shrugged. "My soldier's intuition tells me that after expending so many resources in the Persian Gulf, they aren't going to take another crack at the _Minerva_ in the Indian Ocean. So our biggest problem is navigating the Polynesian islands."

Argus sat back, clearly dissatisfied but with no more say. Wellington returned his attention to the _Minerva_ and found himself hoping their stay would be short.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"I hate men."

Emily blinked in surprise and looked up from the Twilight Gundam's cockpit panel, finding Viveka slumped against the side of the hatch, arms crossed. The foul mood on her face already evinced itself by the cloud of disgust and frustration swirling around her, enough to make Emily wince at the feeling.

"Um, alright," Emily said, looking back down at the panel and hoping to avoid the impending conversation.

"Well, I should specify," Viveka went on, glancing awkwardly across the hangar at the slumbering Infinite Justice Gundam. "I think I only hate Athrun."

Emily held back a sigh. "You're still mad about that?"

"'Romantic advances,' he said! God, why won't he understand that _I friggin' like him?_" She threw her hands over her head in despair. "We're speaking the same language, right?"

"You're asking me?" asked Emily. Viveka glanced over at her with a sigh.

"Well, you're the one with the magic brain powers or something," she said. "Maybe you know something I don't?"

Emily sat back, deciding to ignore the comment about her "magic brain powers," and pondered that thought for a moment. "He's, um..."

"Well, I know you have a crush on Shinn," Viveka went on. Emily snapped up in surprise.

"Viveka!" A victorious grin was all she got in response. "I do not—I mean—"

"Yeah, whatever," Viveka waved her off. "So I believe we were talking about Athrun and your magic brain powers?"

At that, Emily sighed again and put her head against the Twilight's cockpit panel. "He has a lot of pain," she said quietly, and the smirk on Viveka's face faded. "He's...not happy, I guess. I don't know. He told me that most of his friends have died."

"I know that," Viveka answered, "but really, how long can you go on like that, holding onto your past?"

A terrifying image of Gerhardt von Oldendorf flashed across Emily's mind's eye like lightning. "A long time," she said.

"Oh, don't tell me _you're_ moping too," Viveka groaned.

"No, I'm fine," answered Emily, "but I'm just saying, it's more complicated than that."

"It's _always_ more complicated than that."

Emily said nothing, absorbing her attention back into the Twilight's cockpit panel, as Viveka walked away amid a cloud of frustration.

—

There were many reasons why Shinn Asuka hated being a Newtype, and the tendency to become part of other people's drama without even speaking to them was definitely a top contender. He liked to think that Athrun appreciated that, as he caught sight of the ZAFT veteran on the _Minerva's_ observation deck, brooding quietly at the surrounding ZAFT ships.

"Shinn, tell me something," Athrun said as Shinn came to a stop next to him against the railing. He produced Cagalli's pendant from inside his shirt and held it up, letting the sunlight glitter off its surface. "Am I wrong for hanging onto this?"

"No," Shinn started with an arched eyebrow. "Is this about that fight you had with Viveka? I felt the whole thing, by the way."

Athrun tucked the pendant away again. "Maybe she's been able to forget her past," he said, "but it's easier said than done. Especially when you're surrounded by reminders of it." He nodded warily at the ZAFT ships and glanced at Shinn again. "You never felt much connection to ZAFT, did you?"

"Not really," Shinn agreed with a shrug. "They took me in after my family died. Their leader gave me a Gundam. I had a few friends. But that was about it."

"That's not the case for me," Athrun answered. "And that's the problem. I look at the Justice's startup screen and I see ZAFT's insignia, and I can't help but think back to Nicol and Yzak and Dearka. I feel this pendant under my shirt and I can't help but think back to Cagalli and Lacus and Andy and Mwu. How am I supposed to just forget all of that?"

Shinn cast a morose glance towards the water. "You're preaching to the choir."

Silence reigned for a moment, before Athrun looked away awkwardly. "You're right. Sorry."

"But anyway," Shinn went on, "it's your decision, how to respond to it."

"How do you deal with it?" Athrun asked. "The regret, the loss..."

"You think I deal with it any better than you do?"

"It wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion."

Shinn leaned against the railing with a sigh. "They haunt me," he answered. "When I meet someone new, or someone I don't really know well, the contours of their emotion, the way they _feel_...I swear sometimes it's Lacus or Mayu or Kika." He shook his head. "So if you were looking for some kind of well-adjusted coping strategy, you probably asked the wrong person."

Athrun shrugged. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one going insane."

"Just don't be too harsh on her," Shinn warned. "For both your sakes. You're going to pay for it in more ways than one if you break her heart." He paused and a wry smirk crossed his lips. "Plus, you'd have to answer to Emily."

"Wouldn't want that, would we," Athrun chuckled. Their smiles faded as they turned their eyes back towards the ZAFT fleet. "So how do you think they're going to receive us at Carpentaria?"

"Depends on who we meet," Shinn answered. "A bunch of ZAFT vets will hate me more than you."

Athrun heaved a sigh. "Another mess from our pasts for us to deal with, huh..."

—

The air rang as the Chaos Gundam's new left arm clamped into place, and on the gantry near the cockpit, Sting Oakley ground his teeth at the noise. The mechanics were busy repairing the ship, which left the pilots more or less on their own in repairing their mobile suits.

He tried not to think about the battle at Hormuz. He was not exactly a stranger to the feeling of fear, but nor was he a close acquaintance, and he preferred to keep it that way. But that in itself was strange, because he was an Extended, trained to feel no fear—except when told to fear by his commanding officer, through the block word.

Sting allowed himself a brief scowl at the memory. Three years later, the block word held almost no sway on him, and did not even faze him when his mind was on something else—but occasionally it still had the unusual power to grate on his nerves. He suspected the same for Auel, and even Stella seemed to fear it less—but only a little. At the very least, they had managed to work through and break down some of the detrimental side effects of their Extended modifications, and the _Minerva's_ doctor had made some major breakthroughs in reversing some of the more insidious changes. But Sting was not quite willing to part with his combat skills and reflexes, not while the _Minerva_ and the world still needed them. And that meant he had to get unusually tired after combat, and that his block word would still send a chill over him. But that was a price he was willing and able to pay, as long as his combat skills were still necessary.

The Chaos shrugged its shoulders at Sting's command once the final connections snapped into place, and Sting watched with a tired sigh. At least _that_ seemed to be working, and it had been certainly easier to replace than the leg.

His block word. Failure. Perhaps that was why his performance at the Strait of Hormuz still irked him; because it had been so close to _failure_.

—

**March 23rd, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Dubai Naval Station, Dubai, United Arab Emirates**

"So," Shams Coza's voice gleefully cut through the silence in the Strike E's cockpit, where Sven sat working on the machine's operating system, "still don't believe in that seed mode thing?"

Sven cast a lusterless glance at Shams, and to his dismay found Mudie there as well, both looking amused. "It was an adrenaline rush," he said, returning to his work.

"Oh bullshit," Shams laughed. "You're human too, admit it."

His grin faded as he noticed the dark look in Sven's eyes. "Being human will get us killed," he answered quietly. "Being human is not enough. We must be more than human."

Mudie arched an eyebrow. "Isn't that the thinking that led to the Coordinators?"

"There are many Coordinators in the Resistance," Sven shot back, "and we have to be better than them."

"Aren't we already?" Shams asked, drawing a confused look from Sven. "I mean, we have a huge friggin' army and they're on the run. We have superior technology and they have to rely on, like, ZAFT leftovers and our surplus. We're the ones with the wind at our backs."

"It will not always be," Sven replied.

Shams and Mudie exchanged a glance. "What brought this on?" asked Shams.

Sven sat back, his posture brooking no further conversation. "Nothing," he said, and pulled himself out from the cockpit. "I'm going to get a mechanic."

Shams watched Sven leave with a doubtful eye, and glanced back at Mudie again. "So what's his problem, huh?"

Mudie merely shrugged. "Isn't that how he always is?"

"Yeah," Shams said, throwing another dubious look towards the retreating Sven, "but after that little display at Hormuz..." He shrugged himself. "I dunno. What do you think we mean to him?"

"What does it matter?"

"It'd give us something to make fun of him for."

Mudie stood up. "Sven can do what he wants," she decided, and headed off in the opposite direction.

Left behind, Shams rubbed his head in frustration. _Between the Ice Queen over there and Captain Emotionless,_ he thought with a sigh, _I'm starting to wonder if _I'm_ the one going crazy._

—

Grey Saiba hated the odious requirement of an ensign mobile suit pilot euphemistically termed "tactical planning sessions." It usually amounted to either a long and angry tirade by the lieutenant junior grade in charge of the planning, or a very uncomfortable montage of combat footage. Today had shaped up to begin with the latter, leaving the _Charlemagne_'s pilots spread around the briefing room, watching impassively as footage ran on the monitor of the Resistance's jet-black Twilight Gundam at Novorossiysk and Hormuz. And after twenty minutes of watching their comrades and themselves fail, the lieutenant then whirled around into another angry tirade. If he were not one of its subjects, Grey would have been almost impressed with the effortless segue.

As the _Charlemagne_'s browbeaten pilots filed out of the briefing room, Grey scanned the crowd for Merau, but found her nowhere and assumed she had slipped off somewhere else. He heaved a sigh, heading back for his bunk.

It was unbecoming of a soldier, he knew, but he was sleeping poorly of late—and not because of work or the enemy, but from nightmares. Ever since that terrifying battle in Volgograd, where he had come face to face with the Twilight Gundam and, if only for a moment, seen into the eyes of his enemy, those eyes burned holes into his soul. That his enemy could be a teenage girl no older than himself was one thing; that she could be the Angel of Death, the same girl carving for herself a name and a reputation, both resting on the corpses of his colleagues and comrades, was something else entirely. A child, the enemy; a child, the ace; a child, the Angel of Death? Back home, he would have been asking out girls like her.

And that, in turn, made the "tactical planning sessions" even worse. By now, the Alliance had documented just about every capability possible from the _Minerva_'s Gundams the Alliance had not previously possessed. Even the Savior and Legend were not particularly unknown. But the Twilight, even though it had evidently only been built from spare parts, was a new quantity, with a pilot who evinced a different style than her comrades. That meant hours and hours of study, in hopes of predicting her moves.

And that meant thinking about her, and there were few things Grey Saiba hated more than thinking about the Angel of Death.

—

**March 24th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Timor Sea**

The captain of the _Minerva_ could be found on the interior observation deck, staring pensively at the ZAFT warships surrounding her vessel and carrying it across the sea. When Shinn Asuka stepped onto the deck, he made a mental note of Meyrin Hawke's new propensity for brooding. She was not particularly good at it.

Meyrin glanced over at him as he approached. "Did you run into any of them?"

Shinn came to a stop next to them. "I stayed away from the ZAFT mechanics," he said, "just like you asked."

The captain returned her gaze to the surrounding ships, looking far older than she was. "Do you think we'll have any problems at Carpentaria?"

"That depends on Wellington," answered Shinn, "and how well he's disciplined his troops."

Both fell silent again, before Meyrin reached up and pulled off her hat. "Shinn, I've been wondering something for a while," she went on. "Ever since I started serving as this ship's captain." She looked up, and Shinn caught the flash of the old Meyrin Hawke—the vulnerable, meek, intimidated girl, the Meyrin Hawke who was not the captain of the _Minerva_.

"If it's what I think you're thinking," he said, "then the answer is yes, I still think you're fit to be captain."

"After we almost got killed at Hormuz?" Meyrin protested. "Shinn, I told all of you when you asked me to do this that I couldn't. And the only reason we're still alive is because of the pilots. It's you guys who made all my plans work and saved us more times than I can count. And that," she jabbed a thumb towards the _Minerva's_ wake, and the Strait of Hormuz that lay miles behind it, "was the closest we've come to getting killed."

Shinn frowned as he found himself on the opposite end of his earlier conversation with Roxy, lubricated as it was by the soothing influence of Irish whiskey. "We didn't actually _get_ killed," he said, "and if anything, it's my fault that we came so close. If I hadn't gone after the Devil's Saber—"

"No, _I'm_ the one who's responsible," Meyrin cut him off. "Shinn, tell me, do you still trust me as captain? Does everyone else? Should _I_?"

Shinn studied her face for a moment, turning over the pulsing presence in his mind. "Well, I'll say this," he said. "We wouldn't have decided to put you in the captain's chair if we didn't think you could do it. Even if the other bridge crew had more seniority or experience, we needed them where they were because we couldn't really find another highly-trained helmsman or something on short notice." He shrugged. "I still have faith in you."

Meyrin fell back against the railing and sighed heavily. "I don't understand why."

"There's more to you than you give yourself credit for," Shinn answered. "You're not sixteen anymore."

"I'm nineteen."

"So am I, and look how messed up _I_ am."

At that, Meyrin smiled sadly. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Call it a favorable comparison," Shinn said with another shrug.

—

Standing on the gantry near the silent and still-damaged Abyss Gundam, Sting and Auel cast a wary glance down the hangar at the cluster of ZAFT mechanics in their green work jumpsuits, all gathered into one corner and eating lunch.

"They're not very friendly, are they?" Auel grumbled. Sting shook his head.

"Some of them are," he said, "but then there are others who are assholes."

"We have our distinguished aces to thank for that," interrupted the voice of Rau Le Creuset as he strode down the gantry and came to a stop next to the two Extended. "Grudges die hard, even among the Coordinators."

"Yeah," Sting said, "but would they really be so stupid as to give us a hard time? Their commander went out of his way to rescue us, didn't he?"

"That doesn't mean his men appreciate the gesture," Rau answered with a shrug. "Athrun deserted them and destroyed GENESIS, forcing ZAFT to accept a ceasefire instead of crushing the Alliance at Jachin Due. And Shinn very visibly and crushingly betrayed them at Arzachel. They believe he could have turned the war's tide."

"He's not _that_ great," sniffed Auel.

"But try telling that to the ZAFT veterans who have lost everything." Rau glanced over at the cluster of mechanics. "It is no small thing to have your entire homeland annihilated, after all. Such hatred is powerful."

"What, now we have to worry about them trying to kill us?" Auel groaned. At that, Rau shrugged again.

"At the very least, I have advised Captain Hawke to keep the marines ready. And if you venture onto the base when we reach Carpentaria, you would be wise to carry a weapon."

"Wonderful," Sting grunted. "I can handle getting shot at by the people on the other side, but the ones on my side are a whole different story."

Rau grinned at the mechanics, as they huddled closer together. "Indeed," he said, "people are fools."

—

To be continued...


	38. Phase 38: Mistakes of Their Youth

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 38 - Mistakes of Their Youth

—

**March 25th, CE 77 - ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

The beams of the morning sun lit up the dockyard as the cratered _Minerva_ slid painfully into the berth at the Carpentaria base. The thick walls of the armored dock came grinding shut behind it, sending a rumbling vibration throughout the base.

On a balcony across the base, the door slid shut behind Joseph Copland, who pulled off his jacket as he approached the lone figure at the balcony's railing. The frail old man with a long mustache and wooden cane glanced over his shoulder with an airy sigh.

"They make a lot of noise, don't they?" Copland asked with a smile.

The lined face of Chiao Xu, the leader of the Resistance, turned back towards the _Minerva_, the arrow that made it work. "They have new pilots," he intoned, quiet and gentle.

"The Angel of Death?"

"Precisely."

Copland shivered. "Her reputation is too fierce for someone as young as she is."

"There are children younger than her fighting this war," answered Chiao Xu, "and without her reputation, Mr. President."

"You don't need to call me 'Mr. President,' sir," Copland said, shifting uncomfortably. "That was a job I failed at."

"It takes an uncommon strength to recognize one's own failures, especially when the consequences were so momentous, and that is reason enough to accord you the respect of your old office."

Copland said nothing as an awkward silence reigned. "Well," he said at last, "I look forward to meeting this Angel of Death as well. They say she's a Newtype."

Chiao Xu fixed his gaze on the _Minerva_. "So they say."

—

The first thing that struck Emily von Oldendorf about the Carpentaria base of Australia was not anything about the base itself, but about somebody's reaction. Standing next to her on the boarding ramp, staring out over the chilly metallic tableau of Carpentaria, Shinn Asuka was a tempest of emotion. The sunglasses that hid his distinctive crimson eyes did nothing to shield Emily from the whirlwind, and she turned around in surprise—but found him outwardly inscrutable.

"Sorry," Shinn said before Emily could speak. "It's nothing."

Stella danced by them obliviously, whirling down to the bottom of the ramp in a fit of giggles. Shinn and Emily descended after her.

"We're going to be here for a few days at least," Shinn went on, "so if there's anything you want to do on dry land, now's the chance."

Emily glanced around the base, peppered with mobile suits. "Isaac told me about some bad blood here," she started.

Shinn grabbed her arm, pulling her aside, as Stella's dancing came to a halt. "Speak of the devil," he growled. "Stay behind me."

Peering over Shinn's shoulder, Emily could see a handful of men in green ZAFT uniforms. The man at the lead was storming forward, a look of fury on his face.

"There you are!" he snapped. "So you thought you could hide, eh? Traitor Asuka!"

Shinn tensed, waiting as the man came rushing forward—only for a blindingly-fast blow from Stella to catch him in the chest and send him skidding back to the feet of his comrades.

"That's the Extended..." began one of the soldiers.

The man in front struggled back to his feet. "You, you're that bitch he betrayed us for!" he cried. Stella dropped into a combat stance, her eyes cold as stone, perfectly still. The soldier lunged again, fists raised—

A gunshot rang through the air, and all heads snapped to the right, where a boy in a green uniform held aloft a smoking pistol, pointed towards the sky. Emily's eyes widened in surprise.

"Isaac? What are you—"

"What the hell is going on here?" demanded Isaac Kenner. "What are you doing here? Answer me!"

"Who the hell do you think _you_ are?" the man shot back.

"I'm here under the commandant's orders to see to the protection of personnel from the _Minerva_. I am authorized to use deadly force if necessary. Now shut your mouth and stand down." He leveled off the pistol at the man's chest.

The leading man and his comrades scowled in disgust. "And you call yourself a ZAFT soldier," he sneered. He jabbed a finger towards Shinn. "_That man_ does not deserve our sympathy or protection! You have no idea what you're doing!"

"I have every idea what I'm doing," answered Isaac. "Stand down or I will _put_ you down."

A tense silence reigned, until at last the attacker and his followers turned and stalked away in a cloud of curses. Isaac breathed a sigh of relief and returned his pistol to its holster with a shrug.

"I'm sorry about that," he said with a sheepish smile towards Shinn. "I didn't—" His eyes caught something familiar. "Emily! Oh, jeez, I didn't know—" He shook his head. "Well, I guess you see what I meant about bad blood."

Shinn eyed Isaac carefully. "Commandant Wellington assigned you to us?"

"He hand-picked everyone assigned to protect the _Minerva's_ crew," he answered with a nod. "And he won't tolerate any attempts on your lives. You'll be okay."

"If you say so," Shinn said with a dubious glance towards Emily. "Let's go."

Emily cast a thin smile towards Isaac, and tried not to giggle at the blush spreading across his face.

—

"As long as we're here and have all the extra help," said Vino tiredly as he stared down at a laptop in hand, "we're gonna take the opportunity to give the mobile suit team some much-needed upgrades."

Sitting cross-legged on the Savior's cockpit hatch, Viveka arched an inquisitive eyebrow. "I like where this is going."

"Yeah, well, don't get your hopes up," Vino answered. "For the Savior, they want to add some beam shields and tune up the avionics, and I guess there's some updates for the OS in store too."

Viveka heaved a disappointed sigh. "I get the leftovers?"

"Most of the upgrades they wanted to do have already been done by us in the field. But it's better than nothing and it will make the Savior a better partner for the Justice."

A flash of irritation flickered over Viveka's eye. "Now if only you could do the same for the pilots."

Vino glanced up. "Hey, leave me out of your drama, please," he said. "I got plenty of my own, thanks."

"Sorry," sighed Viveka, "it's just, y'know...frustrating."

"Welcome to life with Athrun Zala." He glanced back up at the Savior's darkened eyes. "Just don't be pushy and you'll be fine."

Viveka looked down awkwardly at her mechanical hand. "Yeah, well, easy for you to say."

"I know, isn't it great? I can give all sorts of advice without having to actually do the suffering to earn the wisdom. Now if you're done angsting, we have work to do."

—

Watching the wind sweep over the vast expanse of the Carpentaria base and catch the great ZAFT flag flying outside the commandant's quarters, Athrun Zala struggled to swallow the wave of regret washing over him. Standing on a balcony above the _Minerva's_ dock, he looked out painfully at the barracks and dockyards he knew as a ZAFT soldier. There were too many memories bound up in his place. The pain was there, returning to this base after his hollow victory against the Strike, finding Yzak as the only one of his friends waiting for him. Nicol dead, Dearka captured—and for what? His best friend, he thought, lay dead by his own hand. This was a place of suffering, and that ZAFT flag only made it more intense.

Athrun returned to the present when Meyrin arrived at his side, and with a sharp click of heels, they both went to attention as the doors across the ramp opened.

The wizened old man leaning heavily on a cane, clad in a faded khaki uniform and a bulletproof vest, was Chiao Xu. Surrounded by heavily-armed bodyguards and a handful of aides in crisp business suits or pressed black ZAFT uniforms, he hobbled forward with a steely look on his face.

"Arrived at Carpentaria, sir," Meyrin said, as she and Athrun offered sharp salutes.

The cold look changed to a stately smile. "You treat me like a general. Captain Hawke, Commander Zala, relax." The stiffness dropped away as Meyrin and Athrun shook Chiao Xu's hand in turn. "I understand you have gained some new members of your crew since you were last here."

"Three pilots," answered Meyrin. "Viveka von Oldendorf, the Black Wolf of Normandy. Rau Le Creuset, the White Knight of ZAFT," Athrun's blood boiled at the name, "and—"

"Emily von Oldendorf," finished Chiao Xu, "the Angel of Death." He chuckled quietly. "Quite a roster you have collected, captain." He gestured towards the door. "I thank you for coming, captain, commander. Our fleet is almost gathered, and Commandant Wellington has successfully tested the Mirage Colloid devices we will attach to our ships. Everything is coming together, and perhaps soon, we can end this miserable war."

Athrun tensed as Chiao Xu and his bodyguards led them into the base. Chiao Xu cast a sweeping gesture over the rows of warships parked around the _Minerva's_ massive dry-dock, and pointed in particular at one long ship with massive triple-barreled cannons on its deck.

"That ship there is where a war ended, you know," he went on. "I find it fitting that such a piece of history might yet help bring peace again. Admiral Fukube plans to make it his flagship."

"Sir," Meyrin said, and even Athrun could detect the nervousness and care with which she chose her words, "We were at Poljarny, where several of these ships and others like them fought directly against the Alliance fleet. The most they could do was stall the modern Alliance ships. These ships couldn't possibly do any better."

Athrun saw his chance. "We can't defeat the Earth Alliance in a traditional military engagement," he said. "We would need ZAFT to join us, _and_ we would need to convince one of the member nations to break with the Alliance and join us. And there have been so many attacks—"

Chiao Xu cut him off with a wave of his hand. "I know," he answered. "I need not tell you this, Commander Zala, but we are soldiers. We enter this conflict knowing that we could die, and accepting it. But too many of this war's tactics and battles make casualties out of those who are not soldiers. We must strike a decisive blow to end this war before anymore can needlessly die."

Meyrin glanced towards Athrun anxiously. "Chiao Xu, sir, thousands of our men will be killed if we go to battle with that fleet. Some of those ships used to be museums, sir. They can't fight mobile suits."

"We will make do with what we have," answered Chiao Xu, "and sacrifice what we must. We are soldiers. It is less unacceptable for us than for civilians uninvolved in this war to die."

Athrun and Meyrin shared a dismayed look as the entourage continued on, and Athrun cast a bitter glance back at the silent old battleship. A war had indeed ended on its deck once before, but it was madness to think another would end there now.

—

"So," sighed Sting Oakley as he slumped over the railing overlooking the _Minerva's_ dry-dock, where mechanics were already swarming like ants over the battered, scorched hull. "Had any run-ins with bitter ZAFT vets yet?"

At his side, Auel shook his head and glanced disinterestedly at the rest of the base. "Not yet, anyway. Fuckers will be sorry if they mess with me."

Sting returned his eyes to the _Minerva_. "Shinn had a run-in with them," he added.

"What the hell is he doing going onto the base anyway? He knows everyone here will hate him."

"Wellington hand-picked some troops to protect us," Sting went on. "I guess that should help."

Auel sniffed contemptuously. "Like they've got nothing better to do than worry about Shinn Asuka. Doesn't the Phantom Pain or something stop by here every so often?"

"Every so often, or so I've heard. But there haven't been any attacks lately." Lights flared up as the welders set to work on the _Minerva's_ mangled prow, turning Sting away from the ship with a squint. "Anyway, Creuset _did_ tell us to bring weapons, and Wellington didn't exactly advise against it either."

"Fucking great, isn't it?" snorted Auel. "We can't even stop getting shot at in our own base."

Sting glanced across the base, at the tiny shape of a ZAFT flag flying over the commandant's quarters. "It must be something powerful to get you to hate your allies so much you can't see them as anything but enemies."

—

Memories were easily quashed as Rau Le Creuset strode through the grounds of the great ZAFT base of Carpentaria. Three or four years ago, he would have worn his striking white uniform, greeted by stiff salutes from respectful subordinates and colleagues. Today, only the veterans—the ones who remembered Rau Le Creuset as the ace of the Valentine War, so long ago—accorded him that respect. But either way was fine with Rau. Too much attention could, in fact, be a bad thing.

He was in the mobile suit hangars now, and they were all open wide to proudly display the base's teeming collection of mobile suits. He came to a stop before a yellow mobile suit, immediately recognizing it as the GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type, built all those years ago in CE 71 to test weapons implemented on ZAFT's then-newest models, the Justice and Freedom.

The Freedom. At that, Rau grinned. He had an idea of what Valentine was doing out at Mars, now that he knew that she had the plans for the ZAKU Goliath. But that monstrosity, the final superweapon and essential ingredient Gilbert Dullindal had needed to complete his Destiny Plan, required a Newtype to serve as the controlling feature over its vast array weapons. And not just any Newtype, but a strong one—and Kira, for all his strength, was not as strong a Newtype as the likes of Shinn...or Emily.

He idly wondered how he would be received when ZAFT made its eventual and inevitable return. Valentine had left him for dead, knowing that he was not in fact dead. After three years' exile at Mars, had she erased any of the loyalty he spent so long cultivating in the Ultimate Coordinator? Of course she had. Her creation had gone awry and consumed her, and the unfortunate side effect was to leave Rau Le Creuset in the cold.

But Rau Le Creuset was never without a backup plan.

He looked around and smiled. The forces here were not enough to stop the Earth Alliance, and who knew what plan of attack they were formulating, as they surely were hard at work doing. But they were enough to cause pain and delay—and for the time being, that would do.

—

**Heaven's Base, Iceland**

The balding and sagging frame of Carl Schtorzmann, President of the Eurasian Federation—and, after a constitutional reshuffling in the wake of the Junius War, its foremost leader—hardly inspired much respect. The drooping old man sat in Lord Djibril's office, face to face with the most powerful man on Earth, and showed what Djibril almost thought was fear.

Fear, perhaps, but whatever it was, Djibril was prepared to exploit it.

"As I told you earlier, Lord Djibril," Schtorzmann began, "Project Evolution began during the Schneider government. That was years ago, when I was a mere member of the Eurasian Parliament—"

"Emily von Oldendorf was born in your district," Djibril said, his voice ringing with the coolness of steel. "She was born to Gerhardt von Oldendorf, a bureaucrat whose career you helped through strategic string-pulling. And she became the central piece of a secret project known only to the highest levels of the Eurasian government—a level you now occupy."

"She was transferred to your household during the Markov government," Schtorzmann protested. "I had no knowledge of this project at the time. Djibril—"

"You were the Minister of Defense," Djibril cut him off. "These matters were handled at the highest levels of your ministry, the ministry you claimed to lead. How in hell's name could this get by you?"

"We considered it to be your matter to deal with once Zero-One was transferred to your custody," the Eurasian President said. "And Project Evolution had been compromised in so many other ways that we decided it was more worthwhile to shut it down—"

"Project Evolution is alive and well, President Schtorzmann," Djibril snapped, "and right now it's going by the name 'Angel of Death.'" He shook his head with an irritated sigh. "But that's still not the biggest problem. There was a clone made of the mother. What has become of it?"

Schtorzmann shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "We...don't know."

Djibril's eyes flashed in fury. "You what?"

"We put the clone on a battleship at Artemis," Schtorzmann explained. "Rear Admiral Garcia himself oversaw it—"

"Garcia?" Djibril interrupted. "He's the one who tried to seize the _Archangel_ when it stopped at Artemis in the Valentine War. You put that fool in charge of a state secret?"

"We had no choice," protested Schtorzmann, "we were trying to conduct the operation at a backwater base with no attention focused on it, and Artemis was perfect. We were trying to move the clone to Althea, but the ship was attacked—"

"Attacked?"

"By pirates." Schtorzmann fidgeted for a moment. "The ship was severely damaged, the crew was killed, and its cargo was gone when reinforcements arrived."

"That clone was _valuable_, Schtorzmann!" Djibril roared. "Now we may well have a second Angel of Death out there, waiting to be activated by anyone! That damned little girl has caused enough damage to our operations already." He fixed Schtorzmann with a murderous glare. "You, President Schtorzmann, will begin a second investigation into this calamity. Find this clone. Recapture it. Destroy it. Whatever it takes. We must not have a second Angel of Death to worry about."

—

**March 26th, CE 77 - ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

To Rau Le Creuset, a man like Chiao Xu was nothing but an annoyance. That limp of his, supported by a cane in lieu of a leg made useless by an assassin's bomb that made him move so slowly, was just the start of his problems. The grim tableau of the Resistance's armada was another symptom, but to Rau, the biggest problem in this man was that the fire of determination had not yet gone out. His eyes still flickered with the hope that this fleet and the accompanying army, short as they were on manpower and modern weapons, could somehow break through Lord Djibril's legions and take no less a military prize than Heaven's Base—and that, in so doing, they could end this vast and destructive conflict.

Rau Le Creuset found such people annoying because they came with every era, and yet every era then proceeded to feature its own gruesome conflict. How many times had a man declared that he had secured peace for his time, only to find his time going to war soon thereafter? Chiao Xu was but the latest blinkered leader who thought that his era's war could bring peace.

On the other hand, that made Chiao Xu useful, and for that, Rau was willing to tolerate all manner of absurdities.

Rau cast his eyes over the Resistance's growing fleet. They were to sail across the Pacific Ocean, navigate the Strait of Magellan, and proceed north over the Atlantic to come crashing down on Heaven's Base, almost fifteen thousand kilometers away. Armed with obsolete weapons and heavily reliant on the goodwill of Wellington's forces, the plan was more an act of desperation than it was a creditable military strategy. But Chiao Xu was a saint, not a soldier, and that meant he would have settled on an attempt to score a decisive blow sooner or later.

Better that it was sooner, before anyone came to their senses.

—

With an ocean breeze and not a cloud in the sky, it was obviously the perfect day for someone like Stella Loussier to stand on a convenient walkway atop the Carpentaria dry-dock and gaze across the sea and towards the shimmering horizon. On days like this, with clear skies and a glittering plane of water catching the sunlight, Shinn Asuka never found it hard to see why Stella was so enthralled by the sight of the sea.

"Stella hates this place," she said as Shinn approached. "It's scary."

"I know," answered Shinn, "but it's not all bad. Some of them are nice." Stella remained indignantly silent, staring at the sea. Shinn rubbed the side of his head with a sigh. "I know we all got off on the wrong foot, but we won't be here for too long."

"They're mean," came Stella's reply. "Friends aren't mean to each other."

Shinn glanced down towards the water awkwardly. They had every reason to be mean to _him_, of course. Some of them believed that if it weren't for his act of treachery, they would not be crammed into this base, hunted throughout the Earth Sphere and waiting for the Alliance's inevitable final blow.

On the other hand, they were not Shinn Asuka and knew nothing of the choices he had been forced to make.

"Is Shinn okay?" Stella asked.

"I'm fine," he answered, tossing her a half-hearted smile. "Just looking forward to leaving."

—

An awkward silence reigned in the observation deck as Viveka strode through the door and came to a halt, finding Athrun Zala brooding against the railing. A torrent of emotions and thoughts swirled together within her, before she swallowed hard and stepped up next to the silent Coordinator.

"Hi," she began. Athrun glanced up at her and merely nodded. "What's wrong?"

"I've spent the day with the Resistance's leaders," came Athrun's answer. "So I'm sort of in a bad mood."

"That's no good," said Viveka with a smirk. "Not enough translators?"

Athrun rubbed his forehead, frustration lining his face. "Not enough translators that can speak in both reality and the happy fucking fantasyland Chiao Xu and his advisers live in."

"Sounds bad."

Athrun waved his hand over his head contemptuously. "I understand that he wants to end all this pointless guerrilla fighting. It's just getting people killed with nothing to show for it. But this is not the way to do it. We should be cultivating political allies to force Djibril to the table, and this little show of force is not going to impress anybody. You can't _have_ a show of force if you have no force to show."

Viveka shifted her weight uncomfortably as Athrun sighed. "Well, um, I guess I should apologize for being a dick to you lately," she started. "Sorry."

After a moment's pause, Athrun waved his hand. "It's alright," he said. "I've been crabby too."

"Friends?" Viveka stuck out her hand with a grin.

"Friends," answered Athrun, taking her hand.

"So now that we're friends again, wanna go meet Dr. Freeman the weapons guru?" She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "He might be able to make, like, a beam crowbar for you or something."

—

Joseph Copland was an old man.

Not _truly_ old, Meyrin mused; he was in his late fifties at the most, and the so-called health experts always appearing on the news were insisting that seventy was the new fifty anyway. But the light in his eyes had dimmed; he seemed almost smaller, broken, sagging under the weight of a heavy conscience. He had not stopped Lord Djibril's holocaust when the power was his to do so, and that knowledge, that indubitable fact, weighed on him like nothing else. Joseph Copland was a man in penance, and his very body showed it.

This, however, meant that he was not a towering mountain of a man in whose shadow Meyrin had to literally stand. And she certainly appreciated _that_.

The former President of the Atlantic Federation stood at the lectern at the front of the briefing room, explaining the Resistance's military and political position in space in that booming voice that once delivered State of the Union addresses. The Vedlow Fleet, scourge of the Earth Alliance Space Force, had issued a report. The Space Force was unnervingly quiet. They seemed to be waiting for something, but for what no one in the Resistance knew. Copland was not interested in taking chances. He had taken a chance once before.

"Commander Vedlow has agreed to keep the Debris Belt under tight surveillance," he concluded, "but we're going to have to send her additional supplies if she's to patrol the entire Debris Belt. Which means somebody needs to get one of our sponsors to pony up some cash."

"Easier said than done, Mr. Copland," someone complained, his voice thick with a Spanish accent. "The Atlantics are cracking down on any organization they think might have the remotest of ties to us."

"And they discovered the Athha slush fund," another voice added, shaded with Russian.

"Gentlemen, for all we know the Alliance could be preparing an orbital drop," Copland countered. "We need to know. The Vedlow Fleet is the only group we have in space that can find out for sure, but they must be properly supplied."

"How the hell would they pull off an orbital drop from the Debris Belt? We would notice any drop pods they set up there," groused another man, "and they don't have enough mobile suits that can independently reenter."

Copland fixed him with a steely gaze. "I am not willing to take that chance." He turned back towards the crowd. "Pull whatever financial and logistical strings you have. I know I'm asking much of you, but if the Alliance is preparing something for us in space, we need Vedlow and her men in position to stop them."

The meeting adjourned, and Meyrin quietly made her way to the front, where the former President waited. He greeted her with a wan smile, and Meyrin could see more than ever the toll this war was taking.

"I'm glad you could make it," he said with a handshake. "I know what we discussed here isn't completely relevant to you."

"I'm willing to help out anyway I can," answered Meyrin. "As long as you've got a space booster."

"We have one stored at Woomera, to the south of here, at the old test range. You'll need every kilogram of thrust you can manage, but it will get you to space." He paused for a moment. "I understand you have a new pilot that some say is a Newtype."

Meyrin blinked. "Emily, yes."

"Emily von Oldendorf?"

"...yes, what about her?"

Copland produced from his briefcase a dossier. "There's a reason why she's so talented," he said. "She was part of a military project in the Eurasian Federation, a secret of the highest order. I didn't even know about it when I was president, it was so secret. Emily is the work of something called Project Evolution."

Meyrin blinked again and fixed Copland with a skeptical look. "You're saying we've picked up _another_ secret Alliance super-soldier?"

"Something like that." He handed over the dossier and went on as Meyrin flipped through it. "Her mother had those same abilities but didn't have the physical stamina to make much use of them. They trained Emily since she was a toddler to use those abilities and pilot mobile suits."

Blood freezing, Meyrin looked up with a gasp. "Since she was a _toddler?_"

Copland shrugged. "Evil things go on in the shadows around the highest places of power."

"So...so what does this mean for us?" Meyrin asked, looking helplessly back at the file.

"My sources in Odessa have warned me," Copland said, his face grim, "that she was not meant to be sent into combat until two years from now. So what I'm saying is, you had better be careful about your Angel of Death, because there are not many strings holding her together."

—

"Commander Walker is going to kill me for this," moaned Isaac, trailing behind Emily as they both strolled along the rows of cavernous mobile suit hangars. "I was supposed to file my report an hour ago."

"I thought you big bad Coordinators didn't need discipline," Emily answered, absently glancing up at a half-disassembled Dagger L.

"That doesn't mean we don't _get_ it," Isaac groaned. "Besides, I think every army gets its drill sergeants from the same stock of masochists."

Emily pondered the possibility of _real_ military discipline and decided that she was quite happy with what the _Minerva_ and Captain Hawke were pleased to call "discipline" instead.

The mobile suits were one thing to look at. Emily had become better acquainted with them than she ever thought she would have been six months ago, but it was a rather emotionless game to match names and faces, recalling from the armored titan before her the simulated machine she had battled in one of Shinn's punishing training programs. At this point it was a game, and not particularly fun.

And now they had passed all the hangars, so there was nothing to distract her—and, like an addiction, her thoughts drifted back to her mother.

Her mother was a sick, quiet, shy, kind woman who did her best to _be_ a mother even though she rarely had the strength to get out of bed. Her mother was peaceful and gentle. Her mother would be frightened by what Emily was doing. Her mother would be upset.

Her mother was not like her.

No, Lorelei von Oldendorf had nothing in her to earn the name "Angel of Death." That she had passed on the reaper's touch to her youngest daughter, Emily could not fathom.

"Hey Isaac," she said, "what was your family like?"

The young ZAFT soldier blinked in surprise for a moment. "Well, um...they were pretty normal, actually," he said. "My dad was a teacher, my mom worked for Martius Arsenals. It wasn't really anything special." He glanced over at Emily. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

Isaac arched an eyebrow. "What about your family?"

Emily cast her eyes aside awkwardly, glancing across the base, at the sea. "It's complicated."

"It's always complicated." He offered a smile. "But, not much we can do about it now, is there?"

Emily looked out to sea, where the sun was setting, and thought of her mother.

—

To be continued...


	39. Phase 39: Ghost Army

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

Note: I should add here that I altered Phase 47 of my _DESTINY_ rewrite in a way that should evince itself by the end of this chapter. For some reason, every time I did, the website I was updating refused to display it. Even in the future nothing works.

—

Phase 39 - Ghost Army

—

**March 26th, CE 77 - ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

"You don't really have to follow me around," laughed Emily, marching down the tarmac with Isaac hot on her heels. The morning sun beamed down on them, tempered only by a gentle ocean breeze, as the ZAFT soldier caught up with his ward.

"No, really, I do," Isaac protested. "Like, orders."

Emily heaved a sigh. "If you say so. Why would anyone hurt little old me?"

"Well, if you aren't a Coordinator, for starters..."

At that, Emily frowned. "No, I'm something else," she said.

"See, that's the problem," Isaac answered. "If you're not a Coordinator then they probably won't like you. Heck, even _if_ you were a Coordinator, it'd be iffy. We've got some jerks here." He shrugged nervously. "Patrick Zala is a pretty popular name around here. Coordinator supremacy has its friends. I guess I can't blame them, but I wish they'd at least remember not to shoot at the people who are on _our_ side."

Emily cast a dour glance around the tarmac. The hatred simmering under the surface all over the base had been souring her mood throughout the _Minerva's_ stay in Carpentaria. It did not help that she had her own angst to deal with, but at any rate, she had determined that wherever the hatred was hottest was probably where Shinn Asuka could be found.

"Well," she said, "I wasn't with the _Minerva_ back then."

"Doesn't matter," replied Isaac with a shrug. "You're with them now. They switched sides in the middle of the Battle of Solomon's Sword, and Asuka deserted in the middle of the Battle of Arzachel Crater. They blame those two for costing them the war." He shrugged again. "But, uh, the good news is not everyone hates _you_."

"How comforting."

"Seriously, the Angel of Death is kinda popular around here."

The Angel of Death pursed her lips and wondered what her mother would think of that.

—

Falling into position with a bone-jarring crash, the Chaos Gundam went silent as the final addition was made. Mechanics scurried around the slumbering titan as a crane lowered an armor plate over the Chaos's left hand.

"Two 'Solidus Fulgor' beam shields," the lead mechanic said, glancing back at Sting, Auel, and Stella on the gantry, "just like on the Destiny. You can still carry the RG30 if you want, but you don't really need to and it would slow you down a bit anyway."

"It will do," Sting said with a wave. "Thanks for everything, Conner. We appreciate it."

Conner merely shrugged. "Yeah, well, next up on the docket is the Gaia. What does Spacey over there want?"

Auel snickered as Stella stared back with a blank face. "We're just looking to get these two fitted for underwater combat," Sting answered for her, waving at the Chaos and Gaia, "so Auel doesn't have to bitch about always being alone."

"Fuck you!" Auel shot back.

"We'll do what we can," Conner said, consulting a laptop, "but, uh, they didn't really design the Chaos and Gaia for amphibious combat, so there's not much we can do besides, like, waterproofing."

"I understand," answered Sting, "but we need amphibious capability. Auel pretty much had to defend the ship from the entire Alliance aquatic squadron at Hormuz, and we can't really afford that again."

"What, you lack faith in my godlike abilities?" Auel scoffed.

"Think of it as hedging your bets," Conner said absently. "Look, Sting. I can't promise you a whole lot. We can't really make the Chaos and Gaia _good_ at amphibious combat. We can only make them _adequate_ at it. The rest you'll have to make up for with skill and luck. And since we don't believe in luck, well..."

"Do what you can," instructed Sting. "We came too close to losing everything last time, and I'm not letting that happen again."

—

To the untrained eye, it looked like a giant mess of red and green dots and tangled arrows on a green wire-grid map. And to the generally untrained eye of Meyrin Hawke, that was more or less what the _Minerva's_ map screen looked like; but with concentration, it turned into something else.

"Something else" being a disaster.

"So," she started, with Rau standing silent next to her, "let me get this straight. We're supposed to take this entire fleet, make it invisible with Mirage Colloid, take it out through the south Pacific, around the Cape of Magellan, up the Atlantic, and straight into Iceland, with no problems whatsoever?"

"That would be the gist of it, yes," agreed Rau.

Meyrin rubbed her throbbing temples. "Okay. So what would _you_ do?"

Rau suppressed the urge to grin, instead offering the sober military assessment born from experience. "I would do what the Resistance is doing now and wage a sustained guerrilla war," he answered. "The only two ways to counter it are to either win the support of the populace through which the guerrillas must move, or kill everyone so that the guerrillas _have_ no populace through which to move. It is difficult to win the support of the populace when you are a foreign invader occupying their homes, and even the Phantom Pain would be hard-pressed to kill _everyone_."

"But that's why we're doing all this," Meyrin said, sweeping her arm over the map. "A long guerrilla war winds up killing civilians for every combatant."

Rau merely shrugged. "Civilians die either way. If Chiao Xu was not willing to tolerate that, he should not have fought this war in the first place."

Meyrin hated it when the people with bad news were right.

—

Stella Loussier moved with stunning efficiency.

It was one of the many things Shinn noticed about her as she diligently cleaned out her pet fish's tank. Every move she made was tailored to use as few muscles as possible, to expend as little energy as possible. It explained her slow, quiet, passive nature—and those bursts of unfathomable energy and coordination when she was angry or scared. Her training as an Extended had taught her how to conserve every calorie for those times when she would need to fight with the strength of dozens of men. And so, when she was not on the battlefield, every moment was budgeted and measured in terms of energy spent.

Shinn Asuka found that profoundly disturbing.

He had occasionally wondered whether or not Stella was really "retarded," as Auel had so artfully put it. His limited knowledge of the Extended tended to indicate otherwise—that a Class III like Stella would have been the most profoundly altered, the most extensively trained, the most deeply militarized. Perhaps it was the case that instead of being "retarded," she was actually as intelligent as anyone else—but so much of her mental faculties were devoted to budgeting and measuring and estimating her energy that she seemed almost catatonic to everyone else. It explained, at least, how she could seem so _normal_ when she was fighting—when she was _using_ all that stored-up energy.

And that was even more profoundly disturbing.

The tragedy of Stella Loussier was that if that was true, then even though she was free from the Alliance, even though she was where she wanted to be, she was still living life as an energy-measuring machine, constantly saving strength for spasms of battle.

That might let her take down ten Alliance Marines in hand-to-hand combat, but it was no way to _live_.

—

Standing on the gantry overlooking the _Minerva_ as it entered the last phase of its repairs, Athrun Zala kept his back to the rest of Carpentaria. He had enough memories locked up here, and even though memories were all that remained of Yzak and Dearka and the others, he had no desire to be haunted. After all, that was the point that _she_ had made.

He glanced to the right, where Viveka was leaning over the railing, peering down at the recuperating warship. "I still find it kinda hard to believe."

Athrun arched an eyebrow. "That we use giant robots to fight our wars?"

"No no, that I've spent the past month or so hanging out on the _Minerva_ with my sister. I thought I would never see her again." She smiled grimly. "I guess there are still happy endings to be found in the world."

"I guess."

Viveka cast a sidelong glance towards her dour companion. "And what does _your_ happy ending look like?"

"I don't think about happy endings," answered Athrun.

"Oh come on, you have to think of that." She nudged him in the side with her elbow—the mechanical one, as Athrun winced.

"I don't really want to tell my life story again—"

"It's not about your life story," she interrupted. "That's all the past. I'm talking about the future. Maybe it'll be as shitty as the past was, but maybe it'll be better. Isn't that worth fighting for?"

Athrun glanced down bitterly at the _Minerva_—the flagship of ZAFT, the pride of the Resistance. "This war isn't about securing a better future," he said. "It's about securing a future, period. We can worry about what the future holds when we get there."

"Isn't that enough of a reason to fight even harder for a better future?" Viveka asked.

Athrun was silent for a moment, studying her battle-scarred face. "As a Coordinator, I don't have a future," he said, "but as a person..." He shrugged. "We'll see."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Dubai Naval Station, Dubai, United Arab Emirates**

It was called Operation _Typhoon_, and from his place by the screen in the _Charlemagne_'s briefing room, Ivan Danilov could see that by any measure it was a stupendous scheme. The titanic 6th Combined Surface Fleet would come crashing down on the Gulf of Carpentaria, deploying in a line ten kilometers long to hedge in the Resistance's fleet and trap their forces at Carpentaria. The mobile suits, followed by the armor, followed by the infantry would sweep onto the beach, clearing out the enemy's air defenses first of all. The ground forces would pull back to their beachheads—

"And when our forces are clear," Marshal Markav explained, "Daedalus Crater will open fire with the Requiem cannon."

Danilov frowned. That was what made it so stupendous. It would all take such incredible timing and coordination, moving the Requiem relay points to exactly the right locations and firing at exactly the right moment to hit the Resistance forces at Carpentaria and not, say, a city in western Australia. And then the chaos would be used to launch an orbital drop of two mobile suit battalions, hidden in the Debris Belt over the course of a month, landing behind enemy lines and raising all kind of hell—while three Destroy Gundams pounded and twisted the front line until the rest of the army found an opening.

The Destroy Gundams. Danilov hated the Destroy Gundams. From a purely military perspective, they were devastatingly effective; their positron reflectors let them shrug off firepower that could stop entire battalions; they had enough guns to return the fire in spades; with defense and firepower combined, they could simply plow through defenders and tear gaping holes in enemy lines. As long as their flanks were protected by more nimble machines, they were unstoppable.

From every other perspective, however, they were perhaps the most dramatic symbol of Alliance military power in the world. They were feared, yes—but more than that, they were hated. They destroyed cities without regard for who was an enemy and who was innocent; they towered over everything as sheer expenditures of money, sheer examples of power. They were easy to hate. They, more than anything, symbolized this plan.

The plan was precarious. There were so many ways it could go wrong. And yet perhaps it might end this war, and the need for those Destroys—and for that, Danilov had to hope.

—

Sven Cal Bayan did not understand women.

He had come to this conclusion after meeting the dreaded Transylvania Viper, Monique du Prey, who was now sprawled across a bench in the _Charlemagne_'s crew lounge, wearily watching as Mudie once again humiliated Shams on the pool table. She was one of those Phantom Pain soldiers who had joined only for the thrill of the battle and the even greater thrill of killing. And for that, Sven realized, he found her disgusting.

It was not the killing itself that disgusted him. That was only a necessary part of the battle; soldiers couldn't get up and shoot you in the back if they were dead. But too much attachment to the thrill of the hunt and the rush of the fight led to mistakes, to losing sight of objectives, to doing stupid things like giving the enemy a sporting chance. This was not sport, this was war, and the important thing was not to have a good time but to achieve one's objectives.

That seemed to be an ongoing problem with the Phantom Pain, though. The Phantom Pain had two informal criteria for its recruits: that they were either bloodthirsty enough to kill lots of people, or skilled enough to dominate the battlefield. It was a happy day when those two traits combined in one person, and clearly the Phantom Pain preferred to err on the side of skill and not bloodlust—but people like Monique du Prey always found their way in anyway.

Well, he reminded himself, there was no sense worrying about it. She did her job, and if she happened to really like it, so much the better. All that mattered was achieving the objectives.

—

"What the hell are those things?"

Standing on the _Charlemagne_'s deck with Merau, Grey pointed across the Dubai base's dry-dock towards a trio of mobile suits—one with huge shoulder thrusters, and two with large guns on their backs. Merau squinted at them for a moment.

"Oh, those. New units, I guess. I hear they're going to be part of _Typhoon_."

Grey frowned at the mobile suits. "I don't suppose they're for us," he said.

"'course not. We're the newbies, we always get the leftovers."

The wind kicked up a cloud of sand across the base, and the yellow dust rose up like a blanket over the hangar. Grey tried not to sigh.

"I can't be the only one wondering what the point of this all is. I mean, we have the _Minerva_ trapped in Hormuz, they're on the ropes, their Gundams are all damaged, and they still got away. Are they gods or what?"

Merau shrugged. "Their luck will run out sooner or later. We just have to be persistent."

"Persistently sacrificing human beings?"

"Everyone's luck runs out eventually."

Grey crossed his arms with a scowl. "Do we have to wait for the Angel of Death to make a mistake?"

"Are you still thinking about her?"

"I wish she'd never opened that comm channel." He glared up at the sky. "I didn't want to see her face. And now I know that whenever I fight that thing, I know the face of the person who's piloting it. It's a lot easier to destroy mobile suits when you only have to see the mobile suit's face and not the pilot."

Merau sighed. "You're going to have a much easier time in this war if you learn to _stop_ thinking about it."

—

**Djibril Manor, Vermont, Atlantic Federation**

"A decisive battle is not how you win a guerrilla war, Djibril," protested Lucs Kohler, seated with a handful of the rich old men who controlled Blue Cosmos in the solarium of Lord Djibril's sprawling estate. "That's not how these wars are waged."

Djibril suppressed the urge to scowl. Kohler had served briefly in the military, seen action in a skirmish with Latin American terrorists, taken a leg wound, and been honorably discharged. That was technically more service to his name than any of the other Blue Cosmos financiers had to theirs, but it was also not terribly impressive either way. Getting shot in the leg by a terrorist did not make you an expert on military matters.

Nevertheless, he had a point. "That would be true typically," Djibril said, "but we do not face a typical solution. The guerrillas are marching out to meet us in a decisive battle. We can crush them all when they are gathered in one spot."

"I doubt that's the full extent of it," groused Bruno Azrael from Kohler's side. "It's certainly not what I would do were I in charge over there."

"And what would _you_ do?"

An evil gleam that Djibril had seen before in the eyes of the man's sons flickered for a moment. "I'd gather the forces for a decisive blow while keeping even more out in the countryside. Draw in the Alliance, give them a victory they think ends the war, lie low for a bit while they start disbanding their army, and then strike back with a vengeance when their defenses are lowered."

"Ridiculous," scoffed Alwin Ritter, president of Norfolk Shipyards, seated across the table. "They aren't _that_ widespread."

"Are they not?" Azrael asked back. "It is difficult to estimate a guerrilla organization's numbers by its very nature."

"Gentlemen," Djibril interrupted, "our goal at Carpentaria is not to end the war in a swift and decisive blow. It is to turn the Resistance from a legitimate threat to a minor nuisance. There are scarier things out there and we don't need Chiao Xu and his _Minerva_ buzzing around our heads in the meantime. If we want to eradicate the Resistance down to the last man, we could certainly do so...but I'm sure the specter of a returning ZAFT fleet will convince them that we are their only hope for salvation."

Kohler arched a whitening eyebrow. "You're gambling that they hate the Coordinators more than they hate us?"

"That's why we're attacking the former ZAFT base of Carpentaria," answered Djibril. "The Coordinators in the Resistance will be gathered there, as will the Coordinators that comprise the ZAFT Remnant. Kill them there and when the rest of them return with the ZAFT fleet, they will be all that is left, practically speaking, of the Coordinator people. Then we can exterminate _them_."

"The Resistance does have a knack for finding enemies other than us to fight," Azrael agreed with a shrug. "Usually it's each other."

"Exactly, gentlemen," Djibril continued. "They may be ignorant savages, but they have their uses. And I intend to employ them to the utmost."

Ritter frowned. "What could ZAFT have in its clutches that is so bad? They're hiding out at Mars. What can they do out there, with a handful of frontier colonies?"

"We don't know all of the toys that Dullindal dreamt up before he died," Kohler pointed out. "I'm sure they've got something terrible in store."

At that, Djibril scowled.

_Something terrible indeed..._

—

**ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

"And _you_ told us they had a bar," snarled Roxy Bannon as she stalked down the tarmac towards the _Minerva_, an apologetic Athrun and a weary Shinn on her heels.

"Well they did when _I_ was last here," Athrun protested. "But, I mean, I can see why they might close it if _the homeland got shot out of the sky._"

"Oh, hell, like nobody here would've sought solace at the bottom of a bottle."

Shinn glanced around tiredly as Athrun tried to explain that Carpentaria's officer lounge had never really been that great anyway because they insisted on importing their beer from the PLANTs and Coordinators made _terrible_ beer. He had been to Carpentaria once before as well, where he had met Kira Yamato.

His blood boiled. Kira Yamato. Ace of ZAFT. He did not bear the deep and personal wounds Athrun bore from his rivalry with Kira; he did not have to deal with the betrayal of a friend. He could despise Kira and do his utmost to destroy him with a clear conscience, because Kira had taken much from him.

Of course, Kira was still alive. Shinn could feel, deep in his bones, that his enemy still drew breath. The rumors had it that ZAFT was at Mars, soon to return with a rebuilt fleet and a vendetta for the Alliance, for Earth, for Naturals. Surely, Kira Yamato would be there in the thick of the fighting.

"Anyways, there's really no towns left around here," Athrun continued as Shinn resumed listening to the conversation, "so I'm afraid you'll just have to make do with your already illustrious stash of inebriating beverages."

"Bah! Nothing I have right now is strong enough to knock Shinn out so I can rape him."

"_What?_"

"Kidding!"

—

Soldiers at drill were a bizarre sight to watch.

Bizarre, at least, to Emily von Oldendorf, who had no experience of military discipline and had, much to her surprise, survived a few battles _with_ disciplined soldiers without the benefit of the same discipline. In truth, she was not entirely sure what marching in nice neat straight lines had to do with fighting wars. Marching in nice neat straight lines was only a way to get quickly and horrifically killed on the battlefield—which, she guessed, was why nobody actually _did_ it on the battlefield.

"Why are they doing that?" she asked, glancing over at her side, where Isaac was watching the drilling soldiers with a mixture of amusement and sympathy.

"They're infantry," he explained. "So when they're not actually _training_, they're doing stuff like that. For discipline."

"Discipline?"

"It's how they get you to run across a field and get yourself shot at, because nobody in their right mind would do that on their own."

Emily considered the soldiers, as the entire block of them abruptly turned at their commander's order, swerving bodily to the left and tramping off in a new direction. "I've never gotten discipline like _that_ before..."

"It sucks," declared Isaac, with what Emily took to be the pain of experience.

"I must not be a soldier, then," Emily said with a smile.

"Well, not in _our_ way," Isaac admitted. "Doesn't seem to have slowed you down or anything, though."

Idly, she wondered if her way into battle was the cheater's way—only to remember that instead of having to do push-ups in the mud, she had to ponder whether or not her father had killed her mother to turn her into a military project. So in that sense, she _had_ gone through that discipline—enough discipline to turn her into something _better_.

If only she could remember it.

—

Onigashima. Island of demons.

Meyrin Hawke had heard of this island before, as the location of an Orb military base. The base had been slated for closing shortly before the Valentine War, and the two subsequent invasions of Orb had interrupted any plans to reopen it; but now, with the Junius War three years past, the ruling Government-General of Orb had decided to reopen the base after all, now stocking it with Alliance units.

And what a difference _that_ made.

"These guys," explained Oliver Wellington in his spacious office, to Meyrin, Abbey, and Rau before him, "are causing us all kinds of grief. They run air raids on the whole eastern seaboard of Australia from this base, and we're going to have to neutralize them if we're going to get any fleets out of here into the open ocean."

"Yes," Abbey agreed, "but a whole base, on our own...?"

"We can send a combat group with you," Wellington offered. "But we can't afford to spare too much, because we need to keep enough defensive forces here to deter any preemptive strike by the Alliance. I'm sure you understand."

"It wouldn't be the first time we've taken on a whole base ourselves," answered Meyrin.

"The island itself is not very big," Wellington went on, "but the whole thing is honeycombed with caverns and a lot of it is underground. That positron cannon of yours might help here. We need it at least incapable of launching air strikes on us."

"They have the advantage of fortification," warned Rau. "If your intelligence is accurate, we would have to effectively wipe the island off the map."

Wellington shrugged. "If that's what it takes."

Meyrin turned her eyes towards the map before her. A tiny island, two kilometers along its longest axis, studded with gun emplacements and missile launchers and secret hangars and an underground submarine dock, it was the perfect platform for launching a merciless series of air strikes. It would _have_ to be cracked open with the Tannhäuser, likely more than once, before any real damage could be done.

"Like I said, we can send a detachment with you," Wellington went on. "Our intelligence is sketchy, however, so you may need to confirm it yourselves before you do anything."

Meyrin glanced over at Rau; he merely shrugged.

"If you can keep them hanging off to the side, out of range," she said, "then that should be sufficient." She turned her gaze towards Abbey next, who nodded approvingly. "I want to scout the area out first for myself and see what we're up against. Maybe we can use this detachment to draw some of their forces away."

"And take on the base yourself?"

Meyrin shrugged herself. "It's what we do."

—

It was a mystery to Sting Oakley why so many people on this base were so angry.

He knew that there were _reasons_, of course; many of the personnel on this base were ZAFT veterans of the Junius War, and they had watched the Alliance blow their homeland out of the sky with the Requiem cannon. He too had watched that terrible spectacle and knew that something tragic had happened. But how could he really sympathize? His home for as long as he could remember had been Lodonia...and that was a place he did not mind seeing demolished.

He winced at the memories. The block word no longer controlled him, but it still reminded him of its presence. The Alliance and Neo Roanoke left a cruel legacy. But, he reminded himself, they had also given him power, with the expectation that none of their leashes would ever break. They had broken, and now Sting Oakley was a free man.

And that had been his home. He had no country, nor any memories of his days before Lodonia. He was not even sure if there _were_ days before Lodonia for him.

He stood in the hangar outside the _Minerva_, watching the technicians at work. They were upgrading the Gundams, in anticipation of more ferocious battles later—in space.

The memories of outer space were mostly those of Althea Crater and the _Girty Lue_, punctuated by the _Minerva's_ occasional sojourn into the starry sky. But they were better memories than could be found at Lodonia or Althea, because he was able to put his power to use—for a cause of his choosing, with comrades of his choosing, in service to a commander of his choosing. The power to choose one's own fate was compelling enough to even make him grind his teeth and fight down the fear that rose in his heart on hearing that damned block word.

He glanced back up at the Chaos. They did not have much planned in the way of upgrades—only a pair of beam shields, a modification to the beam rifle, a pair of combat knives, and enhanced maneuverability—but it would be enough. He needed only that much to offer his strength to the _Minerva_—to his friends, to his home.

Anything less, after all, would be _failure_.

—

The Twilight Gundam had new armaments. That was always a boon, Emily decided, because she had long ago discovered that it was the combination of old tricks in new ways that kept her alive at the end of the day. Sitting in the Twilight's cool cockpit with Viveka leaning against the cockpit's door jamb, she watched half in boredom as the mechanics closed the panel on her jet-black war steed's right forearm. They had hidden two claw-tipped "heat rods" in there, which they told her could be extended for dozens of meters and had the power to deliver a punishing electric shock—complemented by a pair of beam sabers on the rear skirt armor and razor-tipped combat claws on the fingertips. And to differentiate the Twilight from the Destiny in visual scans, its beam wings now manifested themselves in a chilling, icy blue.

So, her Gundam evolved. Did she as well?

"I haven't seen your fanboy around these parts," remarked Viveka, grinning down at her sister. "Did you finally get bored with him?"

"Isaac said he had work to do," Emily answered, steeling herself for the coming heckles.

"So, what, you're just gonna leave the little runt hanging?"

"It's not like that," started Emily, already knowing it was futile.

Viveka waved her natural hand dismissively. "Poor little sister, doesn't know how to break a heart properly."

"If it's anything like breaking bones, you could probably teach me."

"If only," Viveka said with a wistful sigh. "No, breaking a heart is a much more delicate procedure. I got pretty good at it after I ran away. Now, do you want this to be a clean break or what?"

Emily squeezed her eyes shut. "Can't we do this without breaking anything?"

"Not with the looks _he's_ been giving you."

As she heaved a sigh, Emily turned her thoughts toward her trusty companion for her stay at Carpentaria. His infatuation was painfully easy to read even without any Newtype senses, but he meant well and Emily wanted nothing to do with the business of breaking hearts. So perhaps that was what was different about her now—she was someone to be loved, to be wanted, to be cherished.

Which, as she thought about it, was a little embarrassing.

"Well, if it makes you feel better," Viveka went on, "the problem's going to resolve itself in a couple days. We're leaving soon."

"I should at least say goodbye to him," answered Emily. "He's been nice to me."

"Sister dearest," laughed Viveka, "you're gonna have to get used to this if you want to ever leave the ship. Having a reputation has its drawbacks."

Emily turned that thought over in her mind bitterly. Another way she had changed.

—

**March 27th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Indian Ocean**

Ivan Danilov remembered this spot. Deep in the Indian Ocean, this was where he had first encountered the _Minerva_, as an observer in the Eurasian Federation Navy, watching the ship that was then ZAFT's flagship tearing through an Atlantic Federation patrol group. Things had changed by now, he supposed—after all, now _he_ was in charge of his ship—but they had not changed much. Somewhere under there was the rusting hulk of an Atlantic Federation carrier, disintegrating beneath the mighty blue waters, the corpses upon which the _Minerva_ and Shinn Asuka built their reputations.

The _Charlemagne_ sliced through the air above the waves, gliding northeast towards the South China Sea, its destination the sprawling Yokosuka Naval Station at which a massive Alliance fleet was gathering. The _Charlemagne_ would form the tip of the Phantom Pain's spear in this tremendous scheme, the flagship from which Marshal Markav would personally direct the battle. They had responsibility for the Destroy units, while Daedalus Crater—the space headquarters of the Phantom Pain—would fire the Requiem cannon to tear a hole in the enemy lines. At least they would be necessary.

And on the subject of necessity, he glanced across the bridge at his faithful first mate, examining the navigator's latest course correction. Vera Wilson was a dependable officer, and dependability was the most important thing to Captain Danilov. Other soldiers could perform spectacular feats in mobile suits, or smother grenades with their own bodies to save their comrades' lives, but it was the soldiers who showed up and did their jobs that made the whole machine keep rolling towards its destination. The heroes deserved their accolades, but heroes had a pesky way of dying in the middle of their heroics—and dead heroes were no good to Captain Danilov.

On the other hand, he was beginning to wonder now if all he had were dead heroes.

—

The air was tense as Sven caught sight of none other than Monique du Prey sauntering onto the _Charlemagne_'s outer observation deck. She shot the taciturn Alliance officer a wicked grin, coming to a stop on the railing next to him.

"Fancy seeing you out here," she chuckled. "Did the mechanics kick you out for some fresh air or what?"

Sven crossed his arms. "My tasks for the day are complete."

"Great! Wanna go hit the bar?"

"No."

Monique's lips curled into an exaggerated pout. "You're no fun. What's up with you, anyway? War's supposed to be fun!"

Sven cast a sidelong glance at the Transylvania Viper. "We must be as prepared as possible to face pilots like those on the _Minerva_."

Monique's eyes lit up. "Oh, speaking of them," she started with a grin, "you wanna hear a little secret about that Angel of Death of theirs?"

"I already know about Project Evolution," Sven cut her off. Monique blinked in surprise.

"What? How?"

"Intelligence assignment. Lieutenant Ramos does her work well."

Monique smirked back. "Tsk tsk, Captain Bayan! You're not supposed to be ordering intelligence missions as an MS team leader. One might take that to be a breach of protocol!"

Sven held in check the urge to snap back with a caustic retort. "It was for the greater good of the Phantom Pain. The more we know about our enemies, the easier it will be to fight them and identify weaknesses."

"Ah, I see, always have to be one step ahead, huh," laughed Monique. "So I don't suppose you'd be interested in the Crusader project, then..."

Despite the entreaties of his better judgment, Sven cast a wary glance towards the cackling pilot.

"They're building you a new unit at Daedalus, dear," she drawled, draping herself around Sven's shoulders to purr enticingly in his ear. "A new Gundam, in fact. With beam wings. The fruit of _years_ of Alliance research on the Destiny. And I'm _so_ jealous."

Sven bristled at her touch. "I was not informed of this."

"Well, you can't know everything, dear captain," Monique giggled. "But that's why you've got to survive this coming battle. So I can see it in action."

—

**ZAFT **_**Lesseps**_**-class land battleship **_**Monterrey**_**, ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

"Commander Argus," intoned Commandant Wellington, his eyes narrow and tone brooking no disagreement, "your personal feelings are secondary here. This is an order."

Standing on the bridge of the _Monterrey_, Commander Argus seethed for a moment, before he dutifully straightened up and saluted. "Yes sir."

The screen went dark, and Argus whirled around on his heel with a furious snarl. Wellington's orders were clear: follow the _Minerva_ out to sea, descend upon Orb, and act according to Captain Hawke's instructions. Her plan to destroy the Orb base on Onigashima was simple enough, using Argus's armada of one _Lesseps_, two _Petrie_-class ships, and three _Vosgulov_ submarines, to draw out Onigashima's defensive squadron, whereupon the _Minerva_ would sweep in with its Tannhäuser to crack the base open and destroy it.

Taking instructions from the _Minerva_. From those traitors. No, this would not do at all.

Maddock glanced up from the captain's chair as Argus approached. "So we are to support the _Minerva_," he started.

"So says the commandant," snarled Argus. "But the commandant has always been clouded and distracted by politics, and it can only be politics that has him agreeing to support those race-traitors." He turned again, glowering out the bridge windows at the dry-dock where the _Minerva's_ final checks were taking place. "This is intolerable. They betrayed us once, why should we trust them now?"

"Will we be ignoring our orders, sir?" Maddock asked.

Argus eyed the _Minerva's_ dry-dock for a moment and smirked. "No, we'll obey," he said. "In our own way."

—

**Governor-General's Residence, Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb**

The office of the Atlantic Federation Governor-General of the Protectorate of the United Emirates of Orb was a sprawling place, now dimly lit, with its owner standing towards the massive window that dominated the back wall and looked out over the teeming capital from the secure heights of Onogoro Island. Three years ago this country had been laid waste by an invading ZAFT army, thrown back only by the might of the Alliance's Destroy Gundam—and all pretenses of sovereignty had collapsed amid the smoke and rubble. The Atlantic Federation had ceded their tropical trophy rather quietly after the Valentine War, exhausted as they were—but now it was different, and they had rolled into Aube on the wheels of victory. This time they were here to stay.

And their Governor-General, of course, was the symbol of their occupation.

The office door opened to admit a blonde woman in the black uniform of the Phantom Pain, and slid shut behind her.

"I see you've returned, commodore," the governor said. "I trust the matter is all taken care of?"

"Sahaku escaped again," came her reply, "but your uncle Fuji was not so lucky." She dumped a round object swathed in cloth onto his desk.

"And what's that?"

"His head."

The governor sniffed. "How barbaric. Shall I place it on a pike at the city gates?"

The woman smiled back. "You always reject my gifts."

"Well, when I tell you to bring me the heads of my enemies, I'm not being literal, Mara. You can even leave their heads attached to them for all I care." He turned again as Mara strode up next to him around his desk. "Now there's only one. Rondo Mina Sahaku, ensconced on _Ame-no-Mihashira_ with her army of pretty boys and rejected prototypes."

"She'll be a tougher nut to crack," warned Mara. "She's a Resistance leader now. She has their protection. And Orb's space fleet is still not yet up to speed."

"Always at the beck and call of the Alliance as it is," agreed the governor. "For now I will settle for isolating her. In time, we may yet convince Djibril to deal with her for us."

Mara grinned. "Wouldn't that be nice."

"The Sahaku family has no place in my future Orb," the governor continued. "None of the other families do. Not even the rest of my own family does. We've spent too long trying to deal with all the bickering between these ancient houses. They need to be sacrificed."

"Setting yourself up as dictator, I see," chuckled Mara.

The governor smiled back. "I will make Orb strong once again. That is what I have always done."

"So what shall we call you?" asked Mara with a smirk. "Emperor Seiran I?"

"Oh, nothing _too_ regal," chuckled Governor-General Jona Roma Seiran. "'President' will do."

—

To be continued...


	40. Phase 40: The Ones Left Behind

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 40 - The Ones Left Behind

—

**March 28th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

A crash of grinding metal rang through the air as the dry-dock gates opened, and the _Minerva_ rose ponderously into the sky. Standing on the outer observation deck, Emily watched as Carpentaria shrank in the distance. Most of the ship's crew had memories of this place—and now, so did she.

The destination this time was to the east, in the long-suffering island nation of Orb. Meyrin had recounted for the unfamiliar among the crew a brief history of the nation, as a favorite battleground for the Earth Alliance and ZAFT throughout the war-torn recent years of the Cosmic Era. Invaded and occupied by the Atlantic Federation in CE 71 for its mass driver, which was destroyed by Orb's defiant leader in the fighting; set free as an independent nation under the Seiran family's direction after the Valentine War, only to be invaded again in a massive strategic feint by ZAFT to relieve pressure on its allies—and only to see _that_ invasion utterly broken by the Alliance's unstoppable new Destroy Gundam; and now it was the Protectorate of the United Emirates of Orb. Nobody pretended that Orb was still an independent nation now; it was fully under the Atlantic Federation's control, and possessed a no-longer-so-secret base that was responsible for numerous raids on Carpentaria. It would have to be dealt with.

That, of course, was the _Minerva'_s specialty.

Emily glanced over her shoulder. There was nobody else on the deck, but she could nonetheless feel a pulsing sense of anger and regret. There were numerous such pulses on the ship, but the one she felt now had the immediacy and familiarity of Shinn Asuka. She knew the outline of his story—a boy in Orb, deprived by invaders of his family, joining ZAFT and following his destiny no matter what twists and turns it took—but she could not relate to the turmoil he felt. Her home had made no pretenses at being a home.

There was another fulcrum for those miserable feelings aboard the _Minerva_, however, and that came from Athrun Zala. A storm of emotions was churning in him—anger, guilt, regret, longing, determination, resignation, fear—and his story she knew not so well.

Knowledge, perhaps, she lacked, but that did not mean she could not try to understand.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Indian Ocean**

"I am putting Captain Bayan in charge of the mobile suit team," explained Danilov on the _Charlemagne_'s bridge, with Vera, Sven, and Monique around him. "I will split our MS complement into two forces; one to engage the enemy, the other to defend the ship. We will be spearheading the Phantom Pain's effort in _Typhoon_, under the direct command of Field Marshal Markav, and our target will be the _Minerva_, which is sure to appear at the battle."

Sven crossed his arms. "Is the Crusader project at Daedalus on track for completion?"

Danilov glanced over at Vera, who consulted her clipboard. "Not in time for the operation, no," she replied. "The engineers still consider the beam wing system too unstable for combat use."

"What a shame!" sighed Monique, throwing a mock-consoling arm around Sven's shoulders. "Denied a chance at glory!"

"The Noir will suffice," replied Sven. "Do I have any special orders?"

"We only need you to tie up the _Minerva's_ mobile suit team," responded Danilov. "We'll take care of the rest. If at all possible, shoot them down, but if all you can manage is to keep them busy, that will do as well."

"How frustrating," Monique sighed with a dismissive wave. "Condemned to merely _occupy_ them! Surely a man of your _singular_ talents should be doing more in our great little scheme here."

"I would appreciate it if you would keep your commentary to yourself, lieutenant," Danilov answered with a glare. "You _will_ be under Captain Bayan's command, after all."

"With all due respect, Captain Danilov," Monique said with a wave, making clear that she intended to express not even that, "I'm here on Crayt's orders."

Danilov narrowed his eyes and took a menacing step towards her. "So long as you're on _my_ ship, you're under _my_ command, as per Atlantic Federation military protocol, no matter who put you here or who you report to. Is that clear, lieutenant?"

Monique's lips twisted in a scowl for a moment. "Of course, sir."

—

"So what do you think of the youngsters?" Shams asked, leaning against the console with crossed arms while Mudie sat at the controls. On the screen before them both was a battle currently raging in the simulator, between Ensigns Grey Saiba and Merau Seraux. Two Dark Windams had destroyed all of each other's weapons except their beam sabers, and now stood on a pockmarked desert surface, locked in a swordfight.

Mudie shrugged. "They're alright."

Grey's Windam feinted right and then swerved left, slipping past a saber stab from Merau; instead, Merau whirled around, drawing what seemed to be her trump card—an anti-armor penetrator went sailing from the Windam's hand, embedding itself in the left shoulder of Grey's Windam and blowing its arm off. The stricken mobile suit staggered back under the smoke, and Merau went charging forward with another killing stroke—only for Grey's Windam to burst out of the smoke, duck under the blow, and take Merau's Windam's left arm with a sweeping slice of his own.

"Now if only they could pull this sort of thing off in actual combat," Shams sighed.

"They're alright," repeated Mudie with another shrug.

"Yeah, well, kicking each other's asses in a simulator fight isn't the same as actual combat," answered Shams. "You can't really _die_ doing this, for one."

"If you're good enough, you won't die in actual combat either."

"Ah, but that's the catch, huh?"

Grey's Windam took another stab through its right shoulder, searing off most of its armor—but with his opening clear, he took the head from Merau's Windam with a sweep of his saber. Merau thrust her entire mobile suit forward, slamming it into Grey's machine, and brought her saber down through the Windam's right leg, sawing it off at the knee. The wounded Windam toppled to the side—but not before Grey brought his own saber down, slashing it through both legs of Merau's Windam and bringing her machine crashing down as well.

Mudie threw a switch on the console. "Enough. Simulation ended."

The screen went dark, and the two simulation pods creaked open to release their exhausted occupants. Mudie sat back with crossed arms.

"I guess if we do this enough, they should be okay?" Shams asked.

"They'll die anyway," replied Mudie. "That's how it works on the battlefield."

Shams eyed the two young pilots as they greeted each other—and probably accused each other of cheating, judging by the wild gestures. "Should we not be training them as well as we can? So they'll have as a good a shot at surviving as they'll ever get?"

"Are you going soft on me, Shams?"

Shams shifted his weight awkwardly. "Ah, never mind."

—

**Vladivostok Naval Station, Primorsky Krai, Russia**

Admiral Aleksandr Romini was the commander of the Eurasian Federation's mighty Pacific Armada. His fleet had a storied history as the force that patrolled the Pacific Ocean on behalf of a series of faraway emperors in Moscow, with the bustling, polluted port of Vladivostok and the long, winding veins of the Trans-Siberia Railway as their only links to civilization. Like his command, the admiral himself was forged of stuff sterner than most. Only a strong man could have survived the infernos of the Valentine War and Junius War, in submarine combat in the northern Pacific against the marauding naval forces of ZAFT.

And so, as Crayt Markav sat back in her shuttle on the tarmac of the Vladivostok base, she pondered the future as she had arranged it, and Admiral Romini's place in it. The admiral was sending parts of his Pacific Armada to Yokosuka, to join the growing 6th Combined Surface Fleet. Over five hundred ships and almost four thousand mobile suits, not counting the seventy still in orbit and ready for a quick drop, would sweep down upon Carpentaria and transform it from an enemy stronghold into an Alliance beachhead. The Requiem cannon and three Destroy Gundams would blast open the enemy lines, allowing Alliance forces to spill out into the countryside and retake all of Australia. Surely the _Minerva_ could not stop _this_.

There were still loose ends that needed attending, of course. The _Charlemagne_ had not yet arrived at Yokosuka, but it was on its way, and the fleet was gathering. So long as nobody got a bright idea and attacked Yokosuka, the plan could begin flawlessly. And even if the _Minerva_ and its Gundams stopped the Destroys, they could not stop the Requiem.

No, the Requiem was the closest thing the Alliance had to the power of God. Nothing could compare to the might of the Lord, but so long as the Phantom Pain wielded the Requiem, they could call upon the shadow of His light, and smite their enemies all the same.

"Marshal," the pilot called from the cockpit, "we've been cleared for takeoff, destination Yokosuka."

—

**Orb **_**Spengler**_**-class aircraft carrier **_**Minashiro**_**, Pacific Ocean**

The _Minashiro_ was officially a gift from the Atlantic Federation to its long-suffering Protectorate of Orb to aid in its defense from the vicious beasts of the Resistance, but the truth was that the Atlantic Federation was simply transforming Orb into a large garrison for patrolling the Pacific and bottling up ZAFT in Carpentaria. And Commodore Mara Saraba, standing on the ship's bridge as it slid forward through the calm blue waters, had no doubt that the Atlantic Federation had other designs as well, on its larger allies. That would be just like them. The world was all a game to them—a zero-sum game.

She glanced around the bridge. Intelligence claimed that the great Resistance battleship _Minerva_ was on a course for Orb territory—probably intending to at long last deal with the base on Onigashima.

The captain was Commander Yamada, a narrow-faced man with the Navy who had seen action in both wars in the past seven years. It seemed to be his lot in life to go plunging headlong into generally certain doom, and to somehow come out of it alive, if not successful. But those were the officers on whom one's life depended, and so it paid to choose the best.

"Commodore," said Yamada, stepping up briskly next to the black-clad woman, "I must confess I'm uncertain that just the _Minashiro_ can take on the _Minerva_. They didn't get their reputation for nothing."

"The Governor wants us to give them a nice welcome," Mara replied with a grin, "as only my girls know how."

Yamada arched a graying eyebrow. "If you say so."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

It was faint, but it was unmistakably familiar, flickering in the distance. Standing on the _Minerva's_ outer observation deck, Emily gazed out to the horizon, where somewhere over it lay a handful of warships pulsing with life. They were too far away to make out distinctly, except for one—and that one she recognized as Isaac Kenner.

Well, he _was_ a mobile suit pilot, so he had a good enough reason to be hanging around as part of a battle group. So it wasn't as though he was simply stalking her.

Now, alone with only the quivering flames of life around her consciousness, she had time to contemplate—and that was never fun.

On one hand, she had Isaac Kenner; younger than herself by a year, she had learned, and full of the eagerness of youth. She almost saw in him a shade of herself; a pilot who had thrown himself into the fight even though he felt fear, because he had friends and comrades who needed him, and their need was more important than his fear. As it had turned out, he had two years' worth of training and experience and six months of direct combat experience to his credit. But even so, he radiated youth, inexperience, openness. The world was a show and he was an unbiased observer. He had possibility before him. And with openness came innocence, and looking up to someone. Emily did not quite know how to feel about the way Isaac seemed to look up to her—as though in her lay an example of how one should live, what one should do.

And, as she remembered that she was still only sixteen herself, she felt profoundly strange at thinking of Isaac as "full of the eagerness of youth."

On the other hand, she had Shinn Asuka, the one who had taken her youth in the least romantic way possible. He himself was young by any normal standard, and yet he was more than anything a man. He had walked the winding trails of hell and emerged with steel in his spine. He knew pain, he knew loss, he knew war, he knew perfectly well how alone one could feel with the powers of a Newtype. And yet he had learned to weather it all, and—at least for those without the senses—could deal with it all inscrutably. He was learned. He was wise. He radiated age, experience, wisdom; and the doors of possibility were closed to him. He was what he was. He was, if anything, the one who Isaac should have been looking up to, because in Shinn Asuka was the power to endure the slings and arrows of life.

On one hand, the innocence of her life with her mother; on the other, the knowledge and security she knew she needed.

Emily blushed. If she put it that way, it sounded like she was choosing which one she wanted to date.

Her mother, she imagined, would probably scold her for worrying about mere _boys_ at such a tender age. She had too much living, too much learning to do before she could go giving her heart away. She idly wondered if her mother would call Shinn a "mere boy," but her mother had never been one to trust the tall, dark, and handsome types anyway. They would break your heart, she said; they could give you thrills, they could give you fun, but they could not give you _life_.

Perhaps she knew that from experience.

—

"So how's it going with the Bionic Woman?"

Athrun blinked in surprise at the unfamiliar voice in the cockpit of his trusty Infinite Justice, and looked up to find Roxy leaning against the cockpit door jamb, absently swirling around some ice in a glass of scotch.

Athrun arched an eyebrow. "Uh, there's a reason we don't allow alcohol in the hangar, y'know."

Roxy waved him off. "It's only one glass of scotch. At this point I wouldn't even notice it. And answer my question."

With a sigh, Athrun consigned himself to not getting anymore work done and sat back. "It's okay," he said, "but I don't see why it matters—"

"It does when you emo the whole fucking ship up with your issues," Roxy shot back. "And I am quite interested in finding out if that whole episode is over, because if it is, I shall renew my faith in God long enough to thank Him for making you two break up or fuck or whatever it was you did."

"Fine," Athrun sighed, "our _episode_ is over. Happy?"

"Immensely." She took a celebratory slug of scotch. "So what _was_ the problem anyway? I mean, metal arm aside, she's hot, she's into you, she seems baggage-free, what's the deal?"

"I don't like where this conversation is going," Athrun put in, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Okay, seriously? I mean, I don't really want to be on a ship with you being all emo off in one corner and her being all pissed off in the other." Roxy shrugged apologetically. "It's all about morale."

"And by 'morale' you mean 'gossip,' right?"

Roxy heaved a sigh. "Alright, I'll put it this way." She took another sip of scotch, as though to prepare herself. "I've noticed ever since I met you that you seem to not want to get attached to anybody else. Like you did that once and then everybody you were attached to got killed, and you'd rather not go through that again, so you just wall yourself off. Am I on the right track here?"

Athrun said nothing, and Roxy shrugged again.

"All I'm saying here, Athrun, is that the way you're living now isn't really living. Humans are social animals, y'know. You can't get by pretending otherwise."

Athrun pondered that for a moment. "You're awfully concerned about other people's business."

Roxy lifted her half-empty glass in a toast with a smirk. "Hey, it's part of the deal with having friends."

—

"The Abyss will continue to be our main unit for amphibious operations," said Rau as he glanced between a clipboard and a laptop on the gantry next to the slumbering Abyss and Chaos Gundams, "but now our amphibious combat capabilities are greatly increased."

"So," said Sting, standing next to Rau and an irritated Auel, "that means Bitchy McWhinypants over here can quit pissing and moaning about having to fight underwater."

"Fuck you, Sting," Auel shot back.

"Focus, please," Rau interrupted. "We will more than likely be doing fighting over the open ocean. We will have to deal with underwater threats. We will need to refine your combat tactics for team-based underwater mobile suit combat. Simply mimicking the Alliance's tactics and maneuvers will not do." He handed over his clipboard to Sting. "On the other hand, underwater mobile suit combat is an entirely different beast from what you're used to." He turned his masked eyes on the two Extended. "But our battle plan relies on you to neutralize all underwater threats, so that the _Minerva_ will be free to maneuver. We are counting on you two."

Auel sniffed contemptuously. "We can handle it."

—

Stella Loussier and Viveka von Oldendorf made a strange team.

On a certain level, they should have gotten along well. Both of them were not quite fully human, although they had arrived at that state through different avenues. Viveka had lost body parts and replaced them with lifeless titanium; Stella had lost her mind and replaced it with...lifeless titanium.

Yes, that was what made them so similar in the mind of Shinn Asuka. Both of them were warriors, perhaps not bred for war, but beaten out of their original shapes, twisted and forged into something not bred but _made_ for war.

Which, of course, explained that similarly hardened, similarly tense, similarly coiled aspect to the contours of their presences. It was a strange way to see people, in the form of the shapes of their hearts, the silhouettes of their emotions. But such was the life of a Newtype.

"Hey, Shinn," started Viveka, glancing awkwardly over her shoulder at Stella while she stared blankly at the slumbering Gaia, "uh, what is your secret to having a conversation with her?"

Shinn smiled knowingly. "Think like her."

Viveka blinked disbelievingly. "Uh. Think like her, you say."

"Yeah." He gestured towards the blank-eyed Extended. "She's not really too different from the rest of us. She wants to be loved. She wants to have fun. She doesn't want the people she loves to suffer. She just has weird ways of expressing it."

"Shinn," she answered, fixing him with a stare slightly unnerving when it came from only one eye, "she's retarded."

Shinn merely shrugged. "Just be nice. She's complicated."

—

After three years in the _Minerva's_ command chair, Meyrin Hawke had learned to dislike surprises. In her line of work, surprises were more often than not of the unpleasant variety—and with three years' worth of instincts on which to call, she already had a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that one of those unpleasant surprises was on its way.

At least Abbey agreed, poring over the map console behind the captain's chair and pondering a massive swath of ocean between Australia and Orb. Onigashima was somewhere around there, but its precise location was difficult to ascertain—and it didn't help that the island, from the outside, looked like any other. There was a reason the base was secret.

Meyrin leafed through the file about Onigashima, frowning at its paucity. There was another reason this base was secret.

A thought occurred to her, and she glanced up at Roxy's console, where the red-haired comm officer was absently toying with a bottle cap. "Roxy, there are groups affiliated with the Resistance in Orb, aren't there?"

Roxy blinked and turned her attention toward her console, rifling through the database. "Um..._sort of_," she started. "There's a network of Orb underground resisters against the Seiran government. They aren't connected to the Athha family, and they don't really tend to have much to do with us. Mostly they just do terrorist stuff. Blow up cars, attack police stations, stuff like that."

"They might be able to fill out some information for us," Meyrin said. "At least give us an idea of what to aim for."

Abbey glanced up from the map console. "We would have to contact them first," she warned, "and I doubt anybody has told them that we're coming."

"Then we can sneak some people in to meet with the Orb resistance." Meyrin glanced back towards the sea. "Once we figure out what we're up against, we can send Argus's force to swing by the base and draw out its forces, and pull them out to sea while we attack the base itself."

"How can you be so sure the Orb resistance will want to work with us?" asked Abbey. "We would be attracting a lot of unwanted attention, and the government will undoubtedly crack down in our wake."

"Do they have a better choice?"

At that, Abbey was silent, and Meyrin sat back.

_Well, hopefully they'll see it that way too._

—

**March 29th, CE 77 - Orb **_**Spengler**_**-class aircraft carrier **_**Minashiro**_**, Pacific Ocean**

"So we've hooked the big fish, I see," cackled Mara as she crossed her arms on the bridge of the _Minashiro_. The _Minerva_ was far ahead, its bearing and speed suggesting that it did not yet know it had been found. And Mara Saraba did appreciate keeping her targets in suspense.

Yamada glanced at the commodore across the bridge. "What do you want the ship to do?"

Mara waved her hand. "Keep the _Minashiro_ back. I'll go with my team and our six Murasames, and I'll leave the Windam team here."

"With your team?" echoed Yamada. "Are you sure? They can be rowdy—"

"When one of your men is in charge, maybe," Mara chuckled, "but I have them figured out. It's all about knowing how to use their peculiar talents."

Yamada arched an eyebrow at the commodore. "Well, it's your call. Will only four Windams be enough to defend this ship, though?"

"If you keep the _Minashiro_ back far enough, it won't matter," Mara said with another airy wave. "Come on, captain. Let's have some fun."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

The alarms wailed as Meyrin leapt into the captain's chair, the bridge already sliding down below into combat configuration. Ten approaching shapes, all of them appearing to be the Murasame, Orb's latest transformable mobile suit. That would be par for course—they were bound to notice the _Minerva_ sooner or later.

"Burt, can you find their mothership?" she asked as the bridge locked into place.

"It's a _Spengler_-class, several kilometers out," answered Burt, "out of our range. It looks like they're staying put."

"They're learning," Abbey said with a smirk. "Captain, will we pursue?"

Meyrin studied the sea before her for a moment. If only the Murasames were attacking, then that left the _Minerva_ little to do except fend them off if they got too close—and let the mobile suits duke it out themselves.

"Engage the mobile suits," she instructed, "and let the ship make the first move." She sat back and stared out over the horizon, steeling herself for a fight.

—

Emily swept her eyes over the controls of the Twilight Gundam. It was largely the same, but there were differences under her Gundam's figurative hood, and new weapons—and, of course, the only way to really know if they would work was to use them.

"Emily," Shinn's voice interrupted through the speaker, "how is the Twilight handling?"

"It'll do," she answered, priming herself for battle.

Up ahead were four Murasames, all in their sleek flight mode, and none of them bearing the standard black-on-white colors. They broke formation, two of them veering skyward and the other two veering towards the sea.

The Twilight and Destiny darted apart as the Murasames opened fire, pulling back behind their beam shields. A Murasame in green and black came barreling in towards the Twilight, beam cannon blazing; Emily lunged aside, leveling off her rifle, only for the Murasame to twirl out of her sights. Another Murasame, this one in red and white, pummeled her Gundam with a barrage of missiles, while a third came streaking in from behind—

The white bolt flashed, and Emily whirled around to snap the Twilight's leg up and kick the Murasame's nose, knocking it skyward. She pulled back her Gundam's left hand for a killing strike—only for the Murasame to rocket upward. The green Murasame charged in, transforming to its mobile suit mode with a blur of moving parts.

"So that's how you want to do it?" Emily grunted, somersaulting over the charging Murasame's head and whirling around for a killing beam shot. Instead, another beam saber came down through her rifle, and with a crash the Twilight went reeling from a kick by the red Murasame. The green one leveled off its own rifle—only for the Twilight to snap its left arm up. A wired, four-pronged claw blasted out of the Twilight's armor, lancing up to seize the Murasame's rifle by the barrel—and with a hard yank, it tore the rifle loose and hurled it into the sea.

Emily grinned in the cockpit. "I knew that thing would come in handy." The Cat's Tail came crashing back into place, and the Twilight took off over its enemies heads, the sky alive with beam fire. She glanced across the battlefield, to where the Destiny was in battle with the fourth Murasame, painted in red on black—and returned her attention to the other three.

—

"Alright, there's only four," Sting began in the Chaos's cockpit, cruising forward with the Gaia and Abyss on its flanks. "I got an idea. Auel, transform and go in the drink."

"What? Why?" Auel groaned.

"Just do it." Auel muttered an obscenity, but the Abyss snapped its shoulder shells shut and plunged into the ocean. Sting moved a couple of meters to his left and glanced over at the Gaia. "Okay, Stella, you stay back with that sniper rifle. I'll go in close."

"But will Sting be okay?" protested Stella—only for Sting to smirk back at her.

"I'm _always_ okay."

The Chaos took off low over the water, deflecting blasts with its shield as the Murasames opened fire. It veered to the right as the two of the Murasames broke off to chase it, the other two continuing straight ahead towards the Gaia. The first two Murasames immediately let loose a volley of missiles, pounding into the water around the Chaos and throwing up a column of water and smoke.

Sting swept to the side as one of them came darting through the fog in mobile suit mode, beam rifle drawn, and fired back—only to see the transforming machine deflect his shots with its shield and dart back into the sky. The other Murasame brought down its own rifle, forcing the Chaos back into the open air with a volley of its own.

"Alright," grunted Sting, "let's try something else!"

With a flash, the Chaos's missile launchers opened up, sending a battery of warheads streaking through the air. The Murasames expertly picked them from the sky with a CIWS barrage, pulling back behind their shields—

"_And now it's my turn!_"

With a scream from its pilot and a blast of water, the Abyss Gundam lunged up into the sky behind the two Murasames and sliced them both in half with its lance.

"_Ha!_ Two kills!" Auel cried.

Sting rolled his eyes. "Stella's playing with the other two. Let's go tidy up, eh?"

—

**Orb National Defense Headquarters, Onogoro Island, United Emirates of Orb**

"_That_ didn't take long," muttered the officer in charge. At his side in the Headquarters' control room, Jona cast him a dour glance. Colonel Soga was known for his exacting standards on mobile suit pilots, and two of them getting killed by one blow from behind was not exactly up to par.

"Relax, colonel," Jona said with an airy wave. "Two kills for a mildly clever surprise attack isn't that bad. And they're kind enough to show us their new weapons, too."

Soga remained unconvinced, but Jona returned his attention to the screen. Mara's red-on-black Murasame was putting up a valiant fight against the mighty Destiny. That was just like her, and of course she would probably find a way to come back—although whether or not her Murasame would return with her was another question entirely.

A thought occurred to him. "Colonel," he said, glancing over at Soga, "get me Major Kadosawa. Tell him I'm activating the _Kin-Iro_, password Blue Two."

Soga blinked in surprise. "The _Kin-Iro_? You're releasing it?"

Jona grinned. "The commodore gave me a gift the other day," he said, "and I think it customary to return the favor with a gift of my own. Don't you agree?"

—

Surrounded by smoke and fire flashing through the sky, the Savior plunged through the flames with its beam shield lit, a Murasame right behind it with beam rifle drawn. The Savior whirled around, deflecting a blast with its shield and lunging into the Murasame's face to punch it aside. It snapped up its rifle to return fire—only for the Savior to kick the weapon skyward.

The Murasame backed away, drawing its beam saber with a flash. It charged forward behind its shield, knocking aside the Savior's rifle with its shield and rearing back with its saber—only for the Savior's beam shield to block the saber, and with a crash, it swept up its plasma cannons and blew the Murasame out of the sky.

Inside the cockpit, Viveka smirked at the falling wreckage. It was always nice to play with new toys.

She glanced to the side, where the Infinite Justice and Legend were doing battle with the two remaining Murasames. It was something of an overstatement for the Legend, which was filling the air with beam cannon blasts and forcing the Murasame to desperately dodge everything thrown at it. So she turned her crimson machine towards the Justice and took off.

Not that he'd need her, of course.

—

Beam saber in hand and engines at maximum, even that was not enough to satisfy Mara as her Murasame groaned in protest, thrown into another death-defying drop. The Destiny followed with its sword drawn and beam wings spread, and brought its sword down with a crash that the Murasame barely dodged.

"I guess I can only do so much against you like this," grunted Mara, as the Destiny charged again and only a timely saber stroke deflected its blow. "But even still—!"

The Murasame surged forward, knocking the Destiny's sword aside—only for the entire Gundam to dart out of harm's way. It whirled in again from behind, nearly sawing the Murasame in half at the waist. Mara wheeled around, beam saber raised, only for the Destiny to ram her machine in the chest with its shoulder.

The auxiliary screen flickered to life as Mara lunged up over the Destiny's killing sword stroke. She glanced irately at the smirking face of Jona Roma Seiran, looking far more amused than he had any right to look.

"Having fun, I'm sure?" he chuckled.

"I'm rather busy, dearest," she shot back, dodging another swing.

"I'm sure," Jona said, "but I'm afraid as governor-general, I must order you to retreat. Can't go having my Phantom Pain attaché getting herself killed, now can I?"

Mara grinded her teeth. "If you send me reinforcements—"

"Now now, dear, none of that," Jona said with a wag of his finger. "I have a better idea anyway. Retreat and return the _Minashiro_ to port. You gave me a present the other day, and I do believe it's customary to reciprocate."

Her scowl turned to a smile. "Your point is made." She threw another switch on the console. "All pilots, return to the _Minashiro!_"

The Murasame leapt above one last sword stroke, and it transformed and arced up into the sky.

—

To be continued...


	41. Phase 41: The Kingdom of Peace

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 41 - The Kingdom of Peace

—

**March 29th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

That was too easy, was the first thing Meyrin thought as the remaining Murasames darted off over the ocean, leaving behind their somewhat perplexed opponents. And Meyrin hated being perplexed.

Fortunately, the rest of the bridge crew seemed to be thinking the same thing, and Meyrin was not about to be led into a trap. She sat back and watched as the remaining enemies made their escape and the _Minerva'_s mobile suits began to return. If the military at Orb had really intended to destroy them, they would have sent a much larger force. Either this was a test, or this was bait.

Meyrin never liked being baited.

She glanced up at Roxy. "Do we have any contact with the Orb resistance yet?"

Roxy shrugged. "I dunno. They're keeping a pretty low profile." She pressed a button on her console, drawing up a message on the auxiliary screen. "That's the best thing I've got so far. They're willing to meet with us, as long as we stay the hell away from Orb and sneak in some representatives. They would prefer us to send a few of our pilots," she rolled her eyes, "as a sign of _trust_."

"Trust?" sputtered Abbey. "What—they think we're going to turn on them?"

"We do have a habit of blowing up Resistance units that cross the line," put in Malik from the helm. "So they may not want to find out which side of the line they're on."

"We only fire on friendly forces when they cease to be friendly to us," Meyrin groaned. "Fine. We'll send pilots. Athrun and Shinn can handle themselves in Aube anyway. They can take Stella with them. Roxy, you go too, you know Aube fairly well. The _Minerva_ will stay off the coast and wait for you to return."

—

**Orb National Defense Headquarters, Onogoro Island**

The freight elevator descended with a rumble, a whiff of the cold smell of industrial cleaners filling the air. Jona Roma Seiran never terribly liked this place. It had been a secret, even from him, and although he kept innumerably many secrets himself, he never liked it when others kept secrets from _him_.

Mara glanced over at him, her expression unreadable. "You certainly are being withholding," she remarked.

Jona grinned back. "My dear," he crooned, "you really need to learn to have some patience."

The elevator rattled as it reached the bottom of the shaft. One of the guards raised a hand to open the doors, but Jona stopped him with a gesture, and turned with a sweeping flair back towards Mara.

"Now Mara, dear," he said, "I know diamonds are a girl's best friend, but with the economy the way it is and the budget all messed up..."

He threw the switch himself, and the door slid open, filling the elevator with light.

"...the best I could spring for was gold."

Mara squinted up through the light and stared in astonishment at the gleaming face of the Akatsuki.

"You didn't—but—that thing was stolen and destroyed three years ago!" she sputtered.

Jona smirked up at the golden mobile suit himself. "Yes, but our golden little princess left behind the blueprints, and we certainly aren't going to let Cagalli keep _all_ our toys in her grave." He cast a sweeping gesture towards the mobile suit. "Akatsuki Model 2 includes upgraded avionics and internal mechanics, and the Owashi Sky Pack. The Shiranui Space Pack is still being worked on for use without those superhuman spatial awareness abilities." He turned back towards Mara with a gleaming grin. "But I'm sure you'll find it adequate."

"You know how to give gifts," said Mara with a nod. "Am I supposed to destroy the _Minerva_ with this thing?"

"Not until they've done me a little favor," replied Jona.

Mara blinked at him. "A favor? Surely you don't mean—"

"Oh no," Jona cut her off with a chuckle, "nothing that _blatant._ No, we both know there's only one thing they want in our territory, and I'm of a mind to let them have it—or even to _help_ them get it."

"That would be dangerous. Our forces can't yet challenge the Alliance militarily on even ground, and Orb itself—"

"I know," Jona interrupted again. "We know that the _Minerva_ is here to attack Onigashima—what else could they want?—and we know that the Alliance garrison there has the dual purpose of protecting Orb and keeping _us_ in check. So the opportunity is simply begging to be taken."

"Djibril isn't going to let you just sit there without supervision," Mara said. "That's why _I'm_ here, after all, and you're just lucky I like you better than I do him."

"Mara, you flatter me," Jona laughed. "Let the _Minerva_ destroy Onigashima. We will benefit from it, and in the meantime, you can have all the fun you want putting on our show of defending the island from the Resistance. Does that tickle your fancy?"

At that, Mara grinned back. "Consider my fancy tickled."

Jona turned back towards the Akatsuki. "After all," he said, "why stop your enemy from doing you a favor?"

—

**Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan, Republic of East Asia**

The Grand Admiral of the Atlantic Federation Navy was something of an odd office. Formed with much controversy in decades past to take overall command of the Atlantic Federation's burgeoning navy, it was thought of as a nod to aggressive imperial powers, to mighty navies that could blanket the oceans and disintegrate the coast with firepower. But if anyone fit the title of "Grand Admiral," it was the swarthy James MacIntyre. He was an admiral, and judging by the medals and ribbons on his chest and the ash-gray beard on his chin, he was pretty grand as well.

All well enough, thought Lord Djibril, but he was still subordinate to the President of the Earth Alliance.

"I must warn you, sir," MacIntyre said gravely in Djibril's office at Yokosuka, "that the timing of this battle is going to be incredibly tight. We will have to take our objectives and hold them at the exactly specified times, and withdraw at the same exact times; and Daedalus will have to fire the Requiem at the exactly specified time, the relay points will need to be in position without interference, and the target point will need to be set exactly. Otherwise we might wind up frying our own attack force, or a city, or nothing at all."

Djibril fixed him with a look designed to petrify lesser man. MacIntyre was not a lesser man. Apparently he was grand in that respect as well. "Are you saying that you cannot do this?"

"Of course not, sir. What I'm saying is that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and this plan absolutely _must_ survive first contact with the enemy or else we will accidentally destroy a city or our own army."

"Then you're just going to have to _make it_ survive," Djibril said with a shrug. "Do you disagree?"

MacIntyre searched for words for a moment. "Sir, I just do not see the necessity of using the Requiem cannon. Not if we also have three Destroy units and two battalions of mobile suits to drop from orbit. The only option they'll have is to flee deeper into Australia, and our entire army will be right on their heels." He paused pointedly. "And I would expect political ramifications—"

"_I_ will deal with the political ramifications," Djibril interrupted with an irritated wave of his hand. "Political ramifications are exactly the purpose of this exercise, admiral. We must use the Requiem cannon to put on a display of overwhelming power. Only when they realize that we can turn on them the same force we used to destroy the PLANTs will they see the futility of their struggle. And once the idea of giving up has been introduced into their fractious little brains, that will be all it takes to split the survivors apart and turn the Resistance into a minor nuisance for local police to mop up. Only by launching a decisive strike of overwhelming power, wiping out the bulk of their military forces and their most talented fighters, can we finally crush the spirits of the rest."

MacIntyre arched an eyebrow, barely perceptibly. "They may well decide to go down fighting, sir."

Djibril cracked a grin. "The Requiem won't give them a choice."

MacIntyre still looked doubtful, and that, Djibril supposed, was where his grandness came to an end.

—

**March 30th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

"It's just gonna be us for a few hours," Sting warned as he caught sight of Emily trudging wearily down the gantry. "And holy hell, you look like shit."

Emily suppressed a sigh. "How long are Shinn and the others going to be out?"

Sting shrugged. "I dunno. Probably won't be back until nightfall."

At that, Emily glanced around the hangar. She, Sting, Auel, and Rau were left aboard the _Minerva_ in case anything happened. That, of course, meant pressure—not the kind of mental pressure she felt when fighting people, but the good old fashioned regular pressure.

Pressure, Emily had long ago discovered, sucked.

She glanced up over her shoulder at the silent Twilight Gundam, slumbering and awaiting its next battle. The previous fight had not been terribly trying, and had not afforded many opportunities to test its new capabilities. It was still strange and new to be relied on, but at least she was not in command. If it should come to combat, that was Rau's job.

At that thought, she glanced over at the brooding Legend, not one of the beneficiaries of a new set of toys at Carpentaria. Rau never seemed to need anything more than the Legend's standard weapons anyway, and the ease with which he dispatched enemies was almost enviable. The ease with which he dispatched enemies...and the ease with which he made sense of a world in chaos.

And yet she knew he had a point, about the world and about herself. She hated it when other people knew her better than herself.

Of course the world made her feel some anger, at least a little. And the opportunity to flee from it all, to hide, to return to anonymity and try to dodge the Phantom Pain herself, had presented itself to her in Murmansk. But she had stayed. What did she want to accomplish?

And then there was Shinn, who by his own confession no longer cared about changing the world. But then what was he fighting for?

Emily heaved a sigh. Causes to fight for were always so troublesome.

—

Poring over maps and dossiers, Meyrin Hawke began to realize that she had really not been trained for this at the ZAFT Military Academy. Perhaps her sister might have been able to handle this stuff—she was the ZAFT Red, after all, not Meyrin—but Meyrin Hawke had graduated well below her sister's place in their class. And learning how to operate the _Minerva's_ complicated mobile suit system had given her plenty of sleepless nights anyway. Learning to be an officer was not so easy in the middle of battle.

Fortunately, she thought as she glanced across the desk in the captain's office—never her office, not at all, it was always Talia's office—she had the best to teach her. Rau Le Creuset was one of the best from the old ZAFT officer corps. The man had not been given command of his own ship after Endymion for nothing.

His masked face looked up impassively at Meyrin. "You don't seem enthused about this plan, captain," he noted.

Meyrin shrugged. How could she? The Resistance was not exactly known for its masters of grand strategy.

"I share your misgivings," Rau went on, gazing back down at the file in his hand, "but with another caveat. We don't know where the remains of ZAFT are hiding, nor do we know what they're planning." Another unreadable look. "What do you think they're up to, captain?"

Another shrug in response. "I wasn't in the loop on anything important during the Junius War," she confessed.

Rau's face twitched, as though behind his mask he was quirking an eyebrow dubiously. "The mobile suit deck operator of the _Minerva_ didn't hear anything she wasn't supposed to hear during the war?"

Well, when he put it like that... "I didn't hear anything that hinted at what the ZAFT remnants might be up to now. All I know is that they headed out towards Mars. I don't even know who's in charge."

Rau smirked at that, but said nothing about it. "If ZAFT returns during this war," he went on, "what will you do, as the captain of the _Minerva?_"

That was a question Meyrin had never pondered, and had quite honestly not wanted to ponder either. The _Minerva's_ vice-captain had killed the PLANTs' Supreme Chairman, after all, and proceeded back into battle against Solomon's Sword. They harbored Shinn Asuka and Athrun Zala. Meyrin knew better than to believe that ZAFT was going to welcome her ship with open arms. Even Wellington's ZAFT remnant had mixed opinions.

Which would not help them defeat the Earth Alliance, but it seemed these days that Meyrin Hawke and her crew were the only ones fighting to do so.

—

**Aube, United Emirates of Orb**

The scars of war were everywhere.

It had been six years since the Earth Alliance had invaded Orb, three since ZAFT had taken its turn, and the capital city of Aube had been devastated more than once in the assaults. And, Athrun Zala reflected bitterly as he glanced across the street at a severed skyscraper cocooned in scaffolding, some of those scars were made by his own hand.

And for what?

The shiny surface of Orb was making a comeback. The skyscrapers were returning, the Kaguya mass driver was almost complete. And yet Orb was clearly a nation that had seen better days. Only the buildings along the major thoroughfares seemed to be getting renovations. Through the gaps and alleys, Athrun could see the hints of decay and destruction. Orb could paper over its wounds, but it had not healed them.

Of course, he thought bitterly, turning his eyes across the city towards the shell of the National Assembly building, they had their Governor-General for that.

Athrun knew that Lord Djibril did not know him, and so probably did not recognize the special significance to the last of Cagalli's loyalists of appointing Jona Roma Seiran as the Governor-General of the Protectorate of Orb. The man who stood as a symbol of everything that Cagalli had fought against, rewarded for his loyalty to Djibril and his creatures with power over Orb. And Athrun knew that Jona was not content with simply doing Djibril's dirty work in Orb. He had plans. Surely Djibril knew that too. Orb would probably see a third invasion soon.

Everything Cagalli had fought against had been victorious. Cagalli's country, in the hands of the enemy. But what difference did that make? The dream was with the dreamer, somewhere on the sea floor south of Onogoro—and like the dreamer, it was never coming back. Or it was up in space, becoming part of the Debris Belt. Or it was...somewhere. Nowhere. Who knew?

Plus, Athrun had never remembered there being so many soldiers. The white and blue uniform of the Orb Defense Forces was everywhere, and it looked like they were doing far more than merely defending.

"So," said Viveka, glancing around anxiously at all the soldiers as she and Athrun headed down the street and tried to keep a low profile, "this is the country you were fighting for?"

"No," Athrun answered. "This is what I was fighting _against_." He waved a hand sadly at everything around him. "But we're not here to change it."

Viveka regarded him quietly for a moment. "It meant a lot to you, didn't it..."

Athrun Zala saw another Orb soldier and scowled. "It meant a lot to _her_."

Awkward silence reigned for a few moments, before Viveka looked around again. "So, uh, we're supposed to meet with some guy calling himself _'Ashitsuki_.' You know him?"

_Ashitsuki_. The legged ship. Athrun ground his teeth as another ghost of his past crawled out of its grave.

—

"You sure are in a sunny mood."

Shinn knew well why, pointedly ignoring Roxy's remark and as he and Stella traversed the streets of Aube, near the coast. Beyond the noisy seaport lay Onogoro Island, and there, Shinn knew, was the memorial he had visited three years ago.

Three years ago. Three years ago he had stood in front of that stone pillar, with Lunamaria, pondering whether or not his parents would have been proud of him. He had not decided then.

Now he had decided, because he knew they would certainly not be proud of him, butchering his way through soldiers and working with terrorists and criminals. It was all for a good cause, but that did not mean the Resistance's sources of funding and equipment—and even its fighters—were all so altruistic. Now his parents would be angry, for risking his life on behalf of a movement that was at best a little less evil than the Phantom Pain. Perhaps Luna would be proud. Undoubtedly, she would be here, proudly or not, to stand by her sister and her friend. He could not imagine that she would have gone with the ZAFT fleet to Mars. Meyrin would have been all she would have had left.

For all that had come to, anyway. He looked over his shoulder at Stella, whose eyes were fixed on the sea. It had been worth it to leave, but the cost of his decision had been higher than he ever thought possible, and the world that had taken shape around him...that was not so certain.

He thought of Rey. Whenever he thought of Luna, he wound up thinking of his other friend and comrade from his days in ZAFT. The one he had killed, personally. Killing him had not been a mistake, perhaps—but that made him regret it no less. Rey gave him guidance and purpose, Rey gave him assurance, Rey gave him something real to cling to as the tectonic plates of his world shifted and churned beneath him. What did it matter that it had all turned out wrong? _Everything_ had turned out wrong.

"Hey, uh, Shinn," Roxy cut in, waving a hand in front of his face. "Are you still there?"

Shinn blinked and shook his head. The mission. Stay focused on the mission. "Yeah, sorry."

"I can't have both of you spacing out here," Roxy groaned. "Then that leaves _me_ in charge, and you know how _that_ would go."

"I know, this place just...has memories. It's a homecoming." He looked around bitterly. "Sort of."

"I thought you didn't like this place to begin with," she said.

Shinn merely shrugged. "It's not this place I'm thinking of. It's..." He glanced once more at Onogoro. There were too many people he had to commemorate. "It's just some old friends."

—

**Orb National Defense Headquarters, Onogoro Island**

"You are just full of surprises today," laughed Mara, standing next to Jona on an observation deck over the Onogoro naval port.

Jona stretched out a hand triumphantly. "I got this thing past Djibril's creatures by promising to use it against the Resistance. Here it is, the second ship of the _Takemikazuchi_-class, the _Lapis Lazuli_."

True to its name, the massive trimaran aircraft carrier was painted a brilliant blue, and the black-and-white Orb Defense Force Windams and Murasames were already being loaded into its cavernous hangars. It was as magnificent here as its predecessor had been at the head of the Orb expeditionary force that hunted the _Megami_ across the Pacific three years ago.

"I'm sure this thing doesn't come without a catch," Mara said, casting an eye towards the Governor-General.

"Of course not. I need you to go pick on the _Minerva_. They're lying in wait several kilometers off the edge of our waters, and I have no right idea what they're doing there but it probably wouldn't hurt to put on a show for our friends at Onigashima."

The Akatsuki's golden armor glimmered in the sun as the mobile suit was lowered into the _Lapis Lazuli_'s hangar. "And I suppose I would be expected to cause some damage?"

"Not yet," said Jona, "but I would consider it a personal favor if you were to knock around the Justice for a bit."

Mara arched an eyebrow. "Athrun Zala? Why?"

Jona grinned. "As a favor."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, South China Sea, Pacific Ocean**

Sven Cal Bayan was a ruthless taskmaster.

The taciturn Phantom Pain officer stood with arms crossed before the training simulators, as Grey and Merau wearily pulled themselves out. Four straight hours of training in these cramped and stuffy machines was particularly brutal, and Grey sorely wished he knew why he and Merau, out of all of the _Charlemagne_'s pilots, were having to endure this.

"Our battle plan calls for close air support by conventional aircraft for conventional infantry and armor, supporting the flanks of our mobile suit units," Sven said as the two tired young pilots pulled themselves to attention before him. "Your performances are still inadequate. We must sustain no more than five percent losses among our air units before hitting our first objectives."

Five percent casualties, for vehicles with no protection against overwhelming enemy firepower. Grey wanted to reply that it was easier said than done, but he had done _that_ once already and got himself thrown into a bulkhead.

Sven regarded them tiredly for a moment, and then shook his head. "We will end this session and continue our work tomorrow. Your reports are expected within an hour. Dismissed."

Grey slumped down next to Merau against the wall outside the simulator room as Sven strode off. Yes, Sven Cal Bayan was ruthless, and appeared to be in search of his next victims.

Grey watched the silver-haired man round a corner and disappear, and wondered if that was how he was supposed to be.

—

"ETA at Yokosuka is approximately eighteen hours," the helmsman announced on the _Charlemagne_'s bridge.

Danilov sat back in the captain's chair, casting a sweeping gaze over the glistening ocean before him. A clear sky, a strong breeze, and no enemies in sight—it was a good day for sailing, and to think he was the captain of a fully enclosed vessel.

Vera caught his gaze. "Captain," she started, "we will be acting as the Marshal's flagship, during _Typhoon_."

"I know," replied Danilov.

She shifted anxiously. "I was...wondering how you felt about that."

Danilov eyed her warily for a moment. "Why would I feel anything? She's the commanding officer of the Phantom Pain, and our ship will provide her the most effective protection as she executes her duties."

Despite that, Danilov knew he did not really believe it, and saw instead the real reason in Vera's eyes. Volgograd. How could she—how could _he_—forget Volgograd?

"Besides," he went on, before she could speak, "this battle stands a good chance of ending the war, or at least ending the Resistance as an existential threat to the Earth Alliance. If that means we have to play host to a superior officer while completing our own assignment, then so be it. A small price to pay to end this war."

He fixed Vera with a look, hoping that she could understand that he knew what she really feared. This would be a battle, perhaps, at first—but after the Requiem shot and the Destroys, this would turn into a massacre. The _Minerva_ and its mobile suit team might be able to wipe out Destroy Gundams, and it might be able to battle conventional units, but it could not possibly stop the Requiem cannon. One blast was all they would need to claim victory.

But victory was not enough for Lord Djibril and Crayt Markav. They had to drive their enemies before them, like ancient conquerors and generals. They had to slaughter their enemies like animals. Djibril would not rest until the last traces of the Coordinators had been exterminated; Markav would not rest until her twisted vision of God's order had been imposed on the world. Militarily defeating the Resistance at Carpentaria would only encourage them to reach farther. What Djibril would do without the Coordinators, Danilov could not fathom; but with Markav, taking territory and people were not enough. She had to capture _souls_.

And yet the Resistance was no better, filled with squabbling guerrillas and criminals, terrorists who killed soldiers and civilians alike. They would have destroyed cities too, had they the resources to build something like the Destroy.

Danilov suppressed the urge to sigh. Deciding which side was truly just was truly impossible.

—

Shams glanced up in surprise at the sound of the airlock door opening, as Mudie stepped out onto the _Charlemagne_'s open-air observation deck. He arched an eyebrow, watching inquisitively as she leaned heavily against the railing and her entire body seemed to deflate with a sigh.

"Fancy seeing you out here," he said, raising his soda in greeting as she jumped in surprise. "Since when were you interested in fresh air?"

Mudie shot him a glare and crossed her arms. Mudie, moody, who said God didn't play jokes?

"So," Shams went on, "you gonna tell me what happened?" All he got was another glare. He shrugged. "Well, have it your way."

He watched her warily as she turned towards the sea, glowering at the horizon. As she turned, he noticed a bruise on her jaw, and two and two began to come together. Sven had patience aplenty for all sorts of things, but apparently, that patience did not extend to his wingmen.

"Y'know, you could always report him," Shams piped up. "I mean, technically he's not allowed to use corporal punishment on fellow commissioned officers. I can point it out to you in the military code—"

"It doesn't matter," she cut him off, waving her hand contemptuously. "I am not weak."

"That's no excuse to let yourself get hit."

"_I am not weak._"

Shams let out a sigh of his own. "Okay, you're not weak," he went on. "But answer me this. Is it weak to sit there and take it when you don't have to, or is it weak to put a stop to it?"

Mudie shot him one last glare. "You wouldn't understand," she snapped, and with that, she was gone back through the airlock.

Shams shrugged and took a sip from his drink. "Ain't that the truth."

—

**Aube, United Emirates of Orb**

"There's lots of things they don't teach you how to do in school," said Roxy with a grin, "like hacking into government networks."

Standing in a back alley with Stella over Roxy, Shinn glanced around nervously. They had found a junction box for the Orb computer network, and with any luck, Roxy could use it to gain access to much more sensitive files remotely. With any luck, of course.

"Fortunately," Roxy went on, "they use the same encryption as our friends in the Alliance—so..." The screen of her laptop flickered for a moment. "Sweet, it worked!"

"The way you said that isn't really inspiring confidence here," Shinn answered. "Hurry it up."

While Roxy worked, Shinn reached into his jacket, palming the handgun stashed inside. Hopefully this wouldn't resort to shooting, but while Shinn's knowledge of computer hacking was limited, he did have enough sense to figure that it would not take Orb long to realize that their network had been compromised.

"Just give me thirty more seconds," she spoke up. "Only a few—"

Before she could finish, two soldiers in the white and blue uniforms of Orb rounded a corner, assault rifles drawn. "You three, get up!" one of them shouted, stepping forward. "You're under—"

Stella was upon them in an instant, knife drawn, a strange sight in her billowing dress as she cut down the two soldiers. Shinn drew his pistol, scanning the alley and the street beyond for more soldiers. That had certainly not taken long.

"Done!" Roxy sprang to her feet, snapping the laptop shut. "Man, we always make messes, don't we?"

"Come on," Shinn said, motioning for Stella to follow deeper into the alleys, as the combat instinct took over. "We're taking the long way back."

—

"_Ashitsuki_," huddled in a shadowy, decrepit building in Aube's shantytown, was actually a rather thin and timid young man. He seemed almost afraid to be here, Athrun noted, in the presence of two known Resistance operatives. If he had assumed the _nom du guerre_ of _Ashitsuki_, he certainly couldn't have actually _served_ on the _Archangel_. That would have taken fortitude this man did not appear to possess.

"Your friends are causing us problems already," _Ashitsuki_ mumbled. "There's soldiers all over the place. You'll never make it back. Neither will they."

"Oh, we'll be okay," chuckled Viveka.

"They have Stella with them," Athrun added. "I'd be more worried about the soldiers. Do you have the schematics?"

_Ashitsuki_ produced a memory stick from his coat. "Schematics and technical data for the base on Onigashima. It's all yours." He dropped the stick into Athrun's hand. "When are you going to attack?"

"Soon," answered Athrun as he pocketed the memory stick. "Why? Do you have something planned?"

_Ashitsuki_ glanced nervously over his shoulder. "No, I just wouldn't mind if you guys left." He shrugged, just as nervously. "You attract attention."

"Don't we ever," said Viveka with a shrug of her own. "Are we going back now? Shinn and Stella probably have every soldier in Aube on their backs by now."

"Wait." Athrun turned again, and glanced down at _Ashitsuki_'s outstretched hand, where he found a single shipbuilding rivet. "Take this."

"What is it?"

_Ashitsuki_ fixed Athrun with a look, and Athrun began to wonder if maybe he had guessed wrong about this anxious man. "It's a rivet from the _Archangel_. It was sent to me as a keepsake. I want you to take it with you. As a keepsake, or whatever. For, uh, for sentimental reasons." He paused for a moment. "'cuz you're the last one."

Athrun eyed him carefully. "You served on the _Archangel_, didn't you?"

"One might say." He dropped the rivet into Athrun's hand and stepped back into shadows. "Get going. It won't be long before they shut down the streets."

A moment later, _Ashitsuki_ had disappeared into the darkness, and Athrun glanced down at the bit of metal in his hand. A rivet from the _Archangel_, handed to him by a former crewmember of the _Archangel_.

He suddenly felt bitter as he pocketed the rivet and followed Viveka out of the building. Who said the past was past?

—

Navigating the back alleys of Aube's dilapidated cityscape had gone reasonably well, until they reached one of their last objectives before the storm drain they had used to infiltrate the city in the first place. An Orb combat truck and a platoon of soldiers were arrayed around it, and there were more soldiers creeping into the city, guns drawn.

Shinn bit back a curse, hunkered down behind a wall on one of the higher levels of a crumbling building. "Well, the boat is still there, but this is gonna be difficult..."

"Hey, uh, you forgetting someone?" Roxy spoke up, pointing across the alley. Shinn followed her finger towards the opposite building, where he could see Athrun and Viveka creeping through the dust, guns drawn. Viveka poked her head up and waved her metal arm.

"That's all well and good," Shinn started, "but we still—"

He fell silent at the sound of metal on leather, and turned around to find Stella drawing her knife with her left hand.

"Oh, Stella, no," he started. "You'd have no cover—"

"Stella will be fine," she whispered back, twirling the knife around in her hand and taking up her stolen assault rifle.

With that, she vaulted out of the window, spraying the truck with rifle fire. Shinn bit back another curse, as he and Roxy vaulted out as well to open fire on the soldiers to Stella's left. In the truck, the soldier manning the machinegun turned his gun towards her—only to slump back with Stella's knife sticking out of his throat, blood gushing. Athrun and Viveka landed with a crunch next, scattering the Orb soldiers with more rifle fire and forcing them behind their truck.

Stella sprinted towards them, leaping into the air, somersaulting over the truck, and landing behind it. Gunshots and screams rang out, and one of the soldiers backpedaled away, his eyes wide with desperation—only for Stella to lunge at him and snap his neck with a blinding kick.

Athrun and Viveka fanned out around the truck to finish off the remaining soldiers, and as the smoke cleared, Roxy and Shinn could only gape at the destruction that mild-mannered Stella had wreaked.

"Wait," Roxy started, "she did all that in _heels?_"

Stella stared curiously at her.

"I can hardly _walk_ in heels," Roxy sputtered, "and you can do fucking _kung fu?_"

"I like how you killed this one guy," Viveka added, gesturing to one of the soldiers with an unsightly, bleeding hole in his neck. "Never seen someone get killed by a high-heeled shoe."

"Very exciting," Athrun said, seizing a fallen rifle. "Now if you don't mind, ladies, we have a schedule to keep."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

"Athrun just reported in," said Abbey from the communication console. "Mission is complete. They're on their way back out of the storm drain. ETA is about forty-five minutes."

Meyrin leaned forward, the tension not dissipating in the slightest. Not only was it forty-five minutes before her ship's mobile suit team was back at full-strength, but Orb was being awfully quiet about the warship hanging out at the edge of their territorial waters.

And of course, her fears became real as Burt spoke up. "Captain, there's three ships approaching from the northeast. Two of them are _Aegis_-class cruisers, but one of them isn't in the database."

"Bring up a visual."

The auxiliary screen flickered to life, and Meyrin felt her heart sink. There were two _Aegis_-class cruisers indeed steaming towards the _Minerva_, but the huge trimaran aircraft carrier between them dwarfed them both. She vaguely recognized it—Orb had operated one such ship during the Junius War. But she had watched it sink at the Battle of Onogoro. She had seen it with her own eyes. And it hadn't been blue.

"Shield the bridge," she said. "We're going to Condition Red."

—

**Orb **_**Takemikazuchi **_**-class supercarrier **_**Lapis Lazuli**_**, Pacific Ocean**

It was good to be back in command of Orb's greatest seagoing warship, mused Jona, with the only caveat being that the _Lapis Lazuli_ was the second of her class. The captain, Tanaka, was also a far more loyal and dependable man than Todaka, and that was almost as important.

Mara's face flickered onto one of the auxiliary screens. "Thought you should know, there was a bit of a scuffle in Aube. Several soldiers are dead, several more wounded, and it looks like the Defense Ministry's computer network was compromised."

"So that's what the _Minerva's_ been up to," Jona chuckled. "Have they escaped already?"

"It looks like it," Mara replied. "Security in the city has doubled and a search for accomplices is underway, but it looks like they got out through a storm drain."

"And what did they access?"

Mara smirked. "Onigashima's blueprints."

Jona too loved it when a plan came together. "I think we've earned ourselves a little fun, don't you?"

Mara's smirk turned into a grin. "Mara Saraba, Akatsuki, _launching!_"

—

To be continued...


	42. Phase 42: Cagalli's Sword

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 42 - Cagalli's Sword

—

**March 30th, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

"It appears we will be on our own for approximately thirty minutes," announced Rau Le Creuset as the Legend Gundam rose into the air, flanked by the Twilight, Chaos, and Abyss. "Until our other pilots arrive, we will have to split our forces. Emily, you will come with me and keep as many of those mobile suits away from the ship as possible. Sting, Auel, you will hang back and provide a second line of defense."

"You're gonna take on, what, sixteen mobile suits all by your self?" scoffed Auel. "Without dying?"

Rau fixed him with a chilling look. "Seventeen mobile suits. The enemy may have submersible forces as well," he went on, "so you will have to prove your boasting of your professed skill at underwater combat."

"Yeah, yeah," Auel sighed.

"We'll take care of whatever you miss," Sting added. "Just don't miss too much."

The Chaos and Abyss peeled off, leaving only the Legend and Twilight cruising forward. Emily scanned her enemies anxiously. The majority of the mobile suits seemed to be Windams, with black replacing the standard Windam's blue, all equipped with Jet Striker packs. Between their formations were a few of those transforming Murasames. And—

Emily squinted. The mobile suit in the formation's lead was gleaming gold, flashing with reflected light in the setting sun, wings spread and eyes glowing. It looked almost like the old Strike Gundam from Shinn's training regimens, but the Strike had not been covered in gold and—

"Emily," Rau cut in, "you will deal with that golden mobile suit. I will deal with the ones around it."

"By yourself?" Emily sputtered.

"The Legend has sufficient firepower, but the Twilight is faster. Break formation and engage."

The Legend spiraled around the Twilight and took off low over the ocean. Emily looked back up at her golden foe and swallowed.

—

**Orb **_**Takemikazuchi**_**-class supercarrier **_**Lapis Lazuli**_

"How disappointing," Jona said with a sigh. "I see our Hero of Justice was among the operatives the _Minerva_ sent to Aube."

From the captain's chair, Tanaka glanced over at the governor-general. "If they break through, we can scramble the rest of the mobile suit wing," he said, "but the _Lapis Lazuli_'s mounted defenses will not be sufficient to stop one of those mobile suits."

"You worry too much," replied Jona, waving his hand. "We have the _Makabe_ and _Itsukushima_ with us too. And their Phase Shift armor might be able to stop 250mm rounds, but I doubt they can do it without rattling around whoever is inside."

Tanaka looked convinced, but Jona sat back with a grin. Mara seemed to be marking that black Gundam, the Twilight—the Angel of Death—as her prey this time around. So that would be fun to watch.

—

"Okay," Emily said, letting out her breath and willing herself calm. "You're just a gold-plated Windam. I can take you."

The golden mobile suit lunged up into the air and showered the Twilight with beam cannon fire. The Twilight darted aside, activated its beam wings, and rushed up towards the enemy. The golden machine somersaulted over her head, whirling around as the Twilight did the same. Emily saw her chance, leveling off her rifle and squeezing off a shot—

...only for a beam shot to come sailing right back at her, singing the Twilight's left-hand shoulder armor.

"What?" The Twilight rocketed skyward again as the golden machine opened fire. "What kind of reflexes—?"

The golden machine raced up after the Twilight, firing again. Emily ground her teeth and lunged to the side, flanking the golden mobile suit and firing three more shots.

This time, she saw it clearly as her blasts simply bounced right back at her, plowing into her beam shield.

"What the—?" she cried, driven back by the golden machine's return fire. "You can deflect beams?" The golden mobile suit rushed in again, a beam saber drawn in its left hand, and forced the Twilight back with a furious saber swipe. "Well _that's_ no fair!"

The golden mobile suit charged again, beam rifle blazing. Emily somersaulted over its head, whirling around and this time drawing her long-range cannon. The golden mobile suit turned just as she pulled the trigger—and her shot went sailing back over the Twilight's head.

"Oh, you can stop _that_ too?" Emily wailed. The Twilight ducked aside again, pummeled back by more fire from the golden machine. "There has to be _some_ way to damage you!"

The Twilight backed away, leveling off its rifle and long cannon and opening fire, but once again the blasts came blazing back at her, forcing her aside. The golden mobile suit charged with another volley of beams, before it holstered its rifle and instead drew a shining beam saber.

"Oh, _fine,_" Emily groaned, "that wasn't working anyway!" She stashed her own rifle, drawing a saber of her own, and clenched her fists around the controls as her adversary came charging in.

—

With beams crisscrossing the sky, only Rau Le Creuset could make sense of the ever-shifting ground of battle and dive through the net to safety, pursued by a squad of Windams and another of Murasames. There had been four squads of four to begin with, but two had broken off to attack the _Minerva_, and unfortunately, Rau reflected, he was not Ares.

"Hey, uh, Commander Facemask," Auel put in, "you're doing kind of a shitty job here keeping them away!"

Rau tightened his fists around the Legend's controls. "I could say the same to you, Auel," he answered. "Just keep them away from the _Minerva_. Make yourself a target."

"Fuck you," Auel shot back, and the screen went dark.

The Legend drew a beam javelin in its left hand, vaulting over the Windam squad's combined beam rifle volley and then darting aside as the Murasames added their own volley. He would need to get some distance to answer their firepower in spades, like he—and they—expected.

One of the Windams endeavored to deny him that luxury, rocketing into his face with a drawn beam saber. Rau smirked; he could play _that_ game too, expertly blocking the Windam's saber strike with his javelin. The Windam surged forward, trying to throw him back, but Rau seized the opportunity to pound the Windam's left flank with his machine's right knee, rattling the pilot inside—just enough time for the Legend to rear back and spear the Windam through the chest with its javelin.

"It's always good to draw first blood," Rau chuckled as the Windam exploded. The remaining mobile suits pulled out around him, clawing for distance—and giving him the space he needed to drive them all further back with a blistering volley from his DRAGOONs.

The Windams and Murasames pulled apart again, angling around for another pass, and Rau grinned with anticipation. Let them come. They couldn't stop him. Nobody could.

—

"So Emily's playing with Goldilocks over there and Commander Facemask is doing a shitty job," groaned Auel, "which leaves us with, what, eight mobile suits?"

"Quit your bitching," Sting shot back. "Attack Pattern Nu!"

The Abyss pulled up, rearing back for a storm of firepower, only to be met by a withering salvo of beams and missiles from the Windams. The Chaos struggled to reach its starting position, but the Murasames circled it like hawks, forcing it back with a volley of their own. Sting snapped up his rifle to return fire, but the Murasames immediately split up and effortlessly dodged his blasts—and came arcing around again, spewing fire and driving him back even further. He glanced over to the left, where the Abyss was being pounded back under a hail of fire from the Windams.

"Dammit, I can't get close enough!" Auel snapped. "What the hell?"

"Don't you just hate it when they go and get smart?" muttered Sting. "Auel, try and get clear so we can give this another shot!"

The Abyss rattled under a punishing missile barrage, and Auel furiously hacked through the smoke with his lance, only to be driven back by another wave of beam fire. "I'm _trying!_" he yelled. The Windams spread out again, rifles raised. "Goddammit—!"

Sting's eyes narrowed as he saw his opportunity. The gunbarrels lifted off, darting back behind the Chaos and slicing down with a flash to cut down one of the Windams with a blistering flurry of beam shots. The remaining three Windams lunged aside as the gunbarrels pulled up and returned to the Chaos.

"I _always_ have to save your ass," Sting chuckled.

"Oh, fuck you!"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"ETA is about fifteen minutes if we don't run into trouble," Athrun's tinny voice said through the bridge's speakerphone. "If we _do_ run into trouble, well, that I don't know."

Meyrin felt her gut wrench. Fifteen more minutes with only half her forces available. "If you get into trouble, call in Sting or Auel. They're closer."

"Roger. Athrun, out."

The line went silent and Meyrin sat back nervously. That enormous carrier and its two _Aegis_-class escorts were just sitting on the horizon, obviously just waiting and watching. They weren't moving. Meyrin hated that. At least if her enemies were moving—especially moving towards her and firing at her—she had a clear idea of what was going on, and that made decision-making easy.

"Captain, we're going to have to remain stationary until Athrun can get back aboard," Abbey pointed out. "If those ships open fire—"

"They aren't doing anything right now," Meyrin interrupted. "And as long as we can keep the situation the same for another fifteen minutes, then they shouldn't have any reason to act."

Abbey arched an eyebrow skeptically. "That's a gamble."

"It is. We have to take a risk."

Abbey looked unconvinced, but said no more, and Meyrin returned her attention to the three ships on the horizon. If any of them were going to make an attack, it would be those two _Aegis_ cruisers. They could be disabled by a strong hit by both Tristans and the Isolde on the central superstructure—but Meyrin would be just as happy if they left.

If only it actually worked that way.

—

**Orb **_**Takemikazuchi**_**-class supercarrier **_**Lapis Lazuli**_

Jona never liked being second-guessed, but it was usually a good thing to be so. Sadly, he had discovered, he was not infallible.

Right now, Tanaka was standing over the _Lapis Lazuli_'s map screen, not appearing very pleased with the situation. A few of their mobile suits had been destroyed already, and none of them had gotten very close to the _Minerva_. There was no telling when the _Minerva_ or its mobile suits might turn on the ships, and the _Aegis_-class cruiser did not have a grand track record with anti-mobile suit combat. Perhaps, Jona wondered idly, this idea wasn't quite as good as it had seemed.

Well, no matter. The _Lapis Lazuli_ could always retreat, and if all else failed, it had Mara's Akatsuki for protection.

"Governor," Tanaka started, "my advice as a military officer is to attack immediately. A speedboat has been detected approaching the battlefield. It's probably carrying the remainder of the _Minerva's_ pilots."

Jona smirked back. "Captain, there's a lot going on here that's above your pay grade," he said. "Suffice it to say that we've got no intention of destroying the _Minerva_ here." He gave Tanaka a conspiratorial grin. "We're putting on a show."

Tanaka looked back at the _Minerva_ dubiously. "This is a risky show to put on, sir," he said. "We are still part of the Earth Alliance. We are still the _Minerva's_ enemies. Why assume that they'll only stop where you want them to?"

"Because," Jona said with a raised finger and a grin, "they will not be here for long."

—

With two Windams and one Murasame destroyed, Rau was feeling rather pleased as the Legend wheeled around on its remaining foes. The Windams seemed to be backing away, but only just—and there were still those three Murasames to deal with as well.

"I should expect no less from Jona Roma Seiran," Rau chuckled. The Legend rolled aside languidly as the enemy machines opened fire again, and the Murasames split up, showering the Legend with missiles and beams as the Windams closed in for the kill. "And yet you expect so little from me!"

The Legend darted forward, driving both Windams apart. They whirled around, rifles leveled off for a shot at the Legend's exposed back—only for the DRAGOONs to angle towards them and blow them both out of the sky. An instant later, the Legend burst up through the smoke, filling the sky with beams and forcing the Murasames back on the defensive.

One of them transformed with a flash, drawing a beam saber and charging in with blade held high. Rau grinned as his chance presented itself—as the Murasame brought down its saber, the Legend's left arm lanced out to seize the Murasame by the wrist. Rau yanked it forward, leaving the mobile suit at his mercy. The remaining two Murasames opened fire in hopes of freeing their comrade—only for the Legend to kick the captive machine in the stomach, knocking it upward, where it was speared by its own comrades' shots.

Rau smirked over at the two survivors as the dying machine fell towards the water and exploded. "Really should be watching where you shoot," he chuckled.

—

The Chaos Gundam shook as a volley of missiles came slamming into its armor, and Sting grunted and struggled to see through the smoke and fire—where four Murasames were still circling him like sharks in the water. He could only operate the gunbarrels for so long on their batteries, and even with improved battery life, there was only so much maneuvering they could do to avoid being destroyed.

One of the Murasames darted out of the formation, transforming and drawing a beam saber. Sting saw his chance, swinging the Chaos bodily underneath the Murasame as it made a furious saber jab. As it passed overhead, he whirled up behind it and blew it apart with a single beam shot—and before the stricken mobile suit had even exploded, its comrades were pummeling him with more beam fire of their own.

Now reduced to three, the Murasames backed away, showering the Chaos with missiles. Sting threw his machine towards the ocean, pulling up at the last second to let the missiles drown in the water—only for the Murasames to nearly knock him into the sea himself with a concentrated barrage of beams.

"Dammit, Auel! Where are you?"

The surface of the sea erupted upward, and with a crash of metal the Abyss Gundam lunged out of the water and opened fire with a burst of its own. Two of the Murasames veered upward to safety, but the third was not so lucky and disappeared in a cloud of fire and smoke.

"And now _I'm_ saving _your_ ass," Auel snickered.

Sting took a moment to catch his breath. "What happened to the Windams?"

Auel shrugged. "Killed two of 'em, I think the other two are retreating."

At that, Sting turned the Chaos towards the surviving two Murasames. "Then it's a bit more fair."

—

Sparks showered the Twilight as it locked sabers with the Akatsuki, beam wings flashing in the setting sun. The Akatsuki surged forward, whipping back its saber and stabbing forward towards the Twilight's cockpit—only for Emily to bring her own blade up hard, knocking the Akatsuki's beam aside and leaving the two mobile suits locked in midair again.

The Akatsuki charged again, throwing back the Twilight with sheer momentum and leveling off its two high energy cannons. Emily ground her teeth and somersaulted over the blasts, before bringing up her saber again to block another blow.

"There's gotta be some way to damage you," she groaned, even as the Akatsuki pressed down against her saber and pushed her back. "Maybe the beam saber—"

Instead, the Akatsuki threw her back and fired again with its high energy cannons. This time Emily deflected the blasts with her beam shield, and fell back as the Akatsuki stormed towards her again. It lunged forward with another saber stab—only for the Twilight to somersault over its head. As Emily whirled around for the killing blow, the Akatsuki thrust its shield into the saber's path, and with a crash brought down its own saber on the Twilight's beam shield.

Emily furrowed her brow as the Akatsuki pressed her back. Beam weapons wouldn't work, except maybe the beam saber—if only she could try it.

The Akatsuki charged again, pushing her back and rushing forward with its saber held high.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

The hangar echoed with screeching metal, and on the hangar floor, Vino winced as the sound grated at his eardrums. He whirled around, just in time to find a ZAFT standard speedboat go squealing from the catapult bay into the hangar, with Athrun determinedly yanking on the helm to drag the boat into a lazy, slowing spin.

Vino watched in mild surprise as the boat rocked to a stop. "And, uh, how did you guys pull _this_ off?"

Athrun was already sprinting towards the gantry where the Infinite Justice waited. Viveka hopped down next to Vino and shook her head.

"He caught a wave, rode it up the incline in front of the portside catapult, and jumped it in here." She shrugged. "What can I say? Guy's got the touch."

Vino shook his head as Viveka, Shinn, and Stella made for their own machines. Leave it to Athrun Zala to make the most stylish of entrances.

—

The sky lit up with beams from below, and Emily snapped her attention to the right as a torrent of firepower pounded the Akatsuki. All of it went bouncing off the golden armor, but it pulled back behind its shield nonetheless—so perhaps that armor could be overwhelmed.

Instead, the Infinite Justice roared into the fray, beam rifle drawn. Inside the Justice, Athrun's eyes flashed in fury and dulled as he saw the familiar golden armor—silhouetted as the seed burst behind it.

"It is," he snarled, "you son of a bitch, it's the Akatsuki!" The Justice lunged up into the sky, whirling over a barrage of cannon blasts from the Akatsuki and igniting one of its leg sabers. "You rebuilt the Akatsuki!"

The Justice fired its anchor, embedding it into the Akatsuki's right shoulder, and with a thundering crash the Justice dragged itself down and pummeled the Akatsuki with an earth-shattering kick that smashed the Akatsuki's shield like glass.

"That machine is not yours!" he roared; the Akatsuki drew its rifle, only for Athrun to slice it in two with a furious saber swipe. "This country is not yours!" The Akatsuki drew back, drawing its cannons, but Athrun cut them in half with another saber blow. "_She is not yours!_"

Emily watched in disbelief as the Justice descended on the Akatsuki and battered it with a ruthless succession of saber blows.

_Where did all this come from...?_

—

**Orb **_**Takemikazuchi-**_**class supercarrier **_**Lapis Lazuli**_

"Governor," Tanaka said with a nervous look in his eye, "_now_ I suggest that we retreat."

Sitting in the _Lapis Lazuli_'s command chair, Jona couldn't help but agree. The _Minerva's_ remaining four Gundams had launched and were now turning their firepower on the mobile suit team's survivors. And the Infinite Justice was ferociously dominating the Akatsuki. Obviously their tactics would need a shift.

"I agree," Jona said at last. "Recall our mobile suits and set course for Onigashima."

Tanaka blinked as the order went out. "But sir, we would lead them straight there—"

Jona merely grinned.

"Sir," Tanaka protested, "I don't understand what's going on here."

"That's why you work for me," Jona answered, and glanced down at the auxiliary screen on his armrest, where Mara's angry face flickered into existence.

"Why are you ordering a retreat?" she snapped. "Just launch the rest of the mobile suits! We can take them out!"

"You're getting your ass kicked, dear," Jona said with a shrug. "Discretion is the better part of valor."

"The hell it is!" The image flickered for a moment as the Akatsuki took a particularly brutal hit. "All I need are some reinforcements—"

"Let's just stick to the plan, Mara," interrupted Jona, "and our plan calls for you to still be alive. So get back down here before I have to do something embarrassing, like pulling rank."

Mara ground her teeth and the screen went dark; up above, the Akatsuki shot a combat flare into the Justice's face and made its escape.

Jona sighed as the tattered remains of the strike force came limping back to their mothership. Good help was so hard to find.

—

**March 31st, CE 77 - Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan, Republic of East Asia**

Lord Djibril scowled. Good help was _so_ hard to find.

He sat before a scattering of the wealthy, reclusive industrialists who bankrolled Blue Cosmos. They had all declined positions within the Earth Alliance government, preferring to manipulate it through their various defense manufacturing and contracting companies. But they were so lacking in a grasp of the big picture that Djibril had to wonder how they had reached the tops of their organizations in the first place. They all sat in plush chairs in the observation deck of Yokosuka Naval Station, towering over the sprawling complex where the Earth Alliance's 6th Combined Surface Fleet was taking shape. Djibril at least had Misa standing behind him, just over his shoulder—mainly because he just liked watching his associates squirm in the steely Extended's presence. Little pleasures—you took them where you could get them.

"The reason we need to decisively destroy the Resistance, gentlemen," Djibril continued, also grateful for his faithful plushy black cat currently nesting on his lap because it was far better company than these nitwits, "is that the ZAFT fleet is likely on the move. One of our long-range satellites, _Sentinel VII_, has gone silent. It is not a malfunction; its last recordings indicate that it was destroyed. The MLA was defeated some time ago and left nothing to stop ZAFT from rearming. We must take the risk at Carpentaria and try to sweep the Resistance off the board, because the ZAFT fleet will not be so easy to destroy."

Across the way, Duncan Mockelberg looked unconvinced. "They've only been out there for three years," he said, "and they've been spending almost all of it fighting Vargas. How much progress could they have possibly made?"

"It was the ZMA that did most of the fighting," pointed out Bruno Azrael. "Either way, I've seen _Sentinel VII_'s last recording. It was shot down by a beam. The only group out that far out that would have any interest in destroying all of our long-range satellites is ZAFT."

Celestine Groht, on the other hand, looked unimpressed. "So, let them come. They've only had three years to rearm, and have not had nearly the same resources we've got. And our troops will be fresh off the momentum of crushing the Resistance, while theirs will have spent three months on spaceships."

"Djibril," said Azrael, "he does have a point. Vargas' last messages indicate that ZAFT's strength is still a fraction of ours. And most of the PLANTs' population was killed, which cripples their technological edge. We have little to fear."

Djibril's expression darkened, and the four industrialists around him went silent. "Gentlemen," Djibril said, "do you recall that skirmish at L4 a week after the Battle of Solomon's Sword, around Armory 1?"

"Yes, the one Admiral Stone led," Mockelberg answered. "What about it?"

"The ZAFT fleet gathered around Armory 1, which had been untouched by the Requiem. That place was the storehouse for Gilbert Dullindal's most fearsome projects and prototypes."

"We captured Armory 1," said Groht with a dismissive wave of his hand. "All we found were some old prototypes, one-off pieces of junk that were useless to our technicians."

Apparently, Djibril mused bitterly, they did not remember. "We only captured Armory 1 after the ZAFT fleet had removed the things of value," Djibril replied. "They allowed us to capture those old prototypes, but there were other things there that we did not capture. We do not know what they are." He frowned. "And that, gentlemen, is why ZAFT remains dangerous."

_After all,_ thought Djibril, _if they could build something like Solomon's Sword, what _else_ could they build...?_

—

Lieutenant General Hans von Schadt was not a man known for his tactical prowess or battlefield achievements. Like much of the Phantom Pain's senior officer corps, he was a political appointment, appeasing the wealthy von Schadt family in the Eurasian Federation and helping secure the support of the malleable President, Carl Schtorzmann. The downside of this was his singular lacking in military skill.

On the other hand, he was the commandant of the Althea Crater base and oversaw the Extended program based there, which made him important either way. And, being one of those political appointments herself, Crayt Markav supposed that she had no real grounds to criticize the good general. He was not really very good, but he was good enough.

"I understand, marshal," General von Schadt answered. "Three Extended will be on a shuttle to Earth by nightfall. Will anything else be required of Althea Crater?"

"No," replied Crayt, "just send us those Extended. Yokosuka, out."

She sat back tiredly as the screen went dark. So much to do to build up an army.

A crash outside her office caught her attention, and she glanced out the window as the workers unloaded a towering Destroy Gundam from the four Osprey VTOL planes that had been necessary to carry it from Heaven's Base to Yokosuka. Two more were hovering in their air off the coast.

The war would be over soon; of that there was no doubt.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

The bulkhead rattled as Athrun Zala brought his fist down on it, right as Viveka had the misfortune of walking into his bunk. There were data sheets and photos of that golden mobile suit, the Akatsuki, scattered everywhere.

And he was pissed. Boy, was he _pissed_.

"There's only one way past the Yata-no-Kagami," he grunted, ignoring Viveka's presence as he dove back into his work, "but I have to get close—" He looked up at her, and in an instant, Viveka saw clearly what happened when Athrun Zala reached his limit. "What is it?"

"Uh, you've been in here all day," Viveka answered. "Are you coming out or what?"

Athrun glanced back down at the storm of papers around him. "I'm busy," he protested. "It's personal."

"I can tell." She sat down cross-legged in front of him. "So here's an idea. Let me help out."

"The Savior won't do any good against the Akatsuki," replied Athrun. "Only the beam sabers will damage it, and my machine has more sabers than yours."

"Yeah, well, your machine has beam sabers coming out the ass and I'm gonna help anyway," Viveka said. "Why did you get so angry to see it?"

Athrun fixed her with a look, but one touch of her emotions and he was convinced that he couldn't bluff his way through. "The Akatsuki was Cagalli's mobile suit," he explained. "After she died, one of my comrades piloted it at Solomon's Sword, where he died as well. It has a lot of...sentiment wrapped up in it." He clenched his fists. "And it's being used by the Seirans, the ones we spent all that time fighting. So, well, that should make it clear."

"Perfectly. So are you going to come out and eat or what?"

Athrun blinked. "I have to—"

"Rhetorical question." She sprang to her feet and yanked Athrun up and towards the door.

—

Emily hated it when someone else's torrent of emotions overwhelmed her own, and right now the storm could be traced back to Shinn Asuka, brooding on the outer deck. She approached him warily, not knowing what the problem was until he glanced tiredly at her and shrugged.

"Sorry," he said before she could speak.

She came to a stop next to him. "It's okay. What happened?"

Shinn cast a bitter glance over the horizon, in the direction of Orb. "It's a long story."

Emily shifted uncomfortably. "I know your family was killed."

"At Orb, yes," Shinn answered, "but there's more." He waved a contemptuous hand towards the horizon. "I visited the memorial here during the Junius War with one of my friends. She's dead now too. I fought over these waters against an Alliance mobile armor with my commander. She's dead now too. I fought with another friend and comrade. He's dead now too." He turned his eyes south, where lay Antarctica. "And that way there are more dead friends. And one of them is particularly special. So," he turned back to her, "you could say that I've come to a reunion and found myself all alone."

"But you're not alone," Emily protested. "All of us are here too."

"I know. And that doesn't help." He shrugged and crossed his arms. "They're people who meant different things to me, and gave me different things than anyone on the _Minerva_. Different relationships. Different emotions. I can't forget. And every time I come back to this part of the world, I feel it all again."

There was far more to this, Emily guessed, than he was letting on. But if he wanted to keep some secrets, then she certainly couldn't force them out.

Instead, she leaned against the railing and pondered the parts of the world where she had left parts of herself. Where she had buried her fear with Kenta Shoyou, her innocence with Kyali, her own self in the bloody dust of Novorossiysk...what was left to leave behind? She looked over at Shinn again. Was that what she was destined to turn into? A sad old man in a young body, counting his dead friends?

Not at all, she promised herself. She would have to be something different.

—

To be continued...


	43. Phase 43: Onigashima

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 43 - Onigashima

—

**March 31st, CE 77 - Onigashima, United Emirates of Orb**

Brigadier General Michael O'Donnell hated his job.

It wasn't as bad as a deployment to southeast Asia or the Middle East, really. He was stationed in a well-appointed fortress overlooking Orb, and his command gave him ample opportunities to launch air strikes against the Resistance stronghold of Carpentaria. But those opportunities were not ample enough for the good general, and the real war was being fought elsewhere—while he was stuck here babysitting an overambitious governor-general.

An overambitious governor-general who, judging by the massive trimaran aircraft carrier coming into port, had far too much freedom already.

Onigashima's cavernous underground warship dock had barely enough room for the _Lapis Lazuli_ and her two escorts, the gate behind them ponderously grinding shut. The observation deck rattled as the gate locked into place, and the ship slowly came to a halt in its dock, the very armor seeming to shudder as it came to rest.

O'Donnell crossed his arms. High Command had been foolish to let Governor Seiran build this thing; and Governor Seiran had, it seemed, been foolish to come here with it. Right off the heels of their skirmish with the _Minerva_, and with an armada of ZAFT ships—Resistance rabble, most likely—hovering menacingly over the horizon. Why, if he didn't know better, he would suppose that Jona was _trying_ to get Onigashima destroyed.

But that was a bold move—too bold, perhaps. He wouldn't dare. If Onigashima was destroyed, Lord Djibril's suspicions would be aroused, and Orb would be seeing far more of the Earth Alliance Army's olive-green uniform.

Then again, they had brought the _Minerva_ with them.

—

**Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan, Republic of East Asia**

"You will form the tip of the spear," explained Admiral MacIntyre on the _Charlemagne_'s auxiliary screen, with the ship's bridge crew respectfully arrayed around it. "Your ship's firepower will be the point that breaks through the enemy formations, long enough for our other troops to secure footholds. And after that," he shrugged, "you know the rest."

"I understand, sir," Danilov answered. "Afterward, however, I have orders from Marshal Markav herself to engage the _Minerva_, if it survives. And we have no reason to believe it won't."

MacIntyre nodded in agreement. "You'll have three Destroys and several mobile armors to back you up and tie up their mobile suits. And they won't have much room to run."

"Understood, admiral," Danilov said. "I wish you luck with the further preparations."

MacIntyre smiled back tightly. "We'll need it." He saluted and the screen went dark.

Danilov turned towards the rest of the bridge crew. "Vera, see what you can do about requisitioning us a couple of Euclid units. We'll need nothing less to protect our flanks."

As Vera saluted and headed for the comm console, Danilov turned to gaze out the bridge windows, over the vast panorama of Yokosuka preparing for war. The 376 meter-long trimaran _Chrysalis_ was taking on supplies and fuel in the next berth over, where Admiral MacIntyre was flying his flag. That was the ship that had led the Alliance fleet at the Battle of Antarctica three years ago; it was only fitting that it lead them back to Carpentaria and finish the job for good.

—

It was always good to laugh, as Shams liked to remind his dour comrades, and when Sven Cal Bayan and Irene Ramos met, there were usually plenty of opportunities to do so. And Shams liked to laugh. Laughing was good. Therapeutic, even.

For Shams, at least. For Sven, judging by the moderately outraged look on his face, it was not quite having the soothing effect. Maybe he should've tried laughing.

"I just don't understand why you have to be so _serious_ all the time," Irene crooned, her arms wrapped loosely around the quite unhappy officer's waist. "It's unhealthy, you know."

"May I ask why you insist on doing this to me?" asked Sven through clenched teeth. Shams merely chuckled and wished someone as sexy as Irene would hold him like that.

"Because," she purred back, "watching you squirm is the highlight of my day." And with that, she let him go and took a perfunctory step back. "But I guess you want to know about _business_, don't you?"

Shams watched with glee as Sven seemed to twitch in irritation. "That was why I originally called."

She waved her hand dismissively. "I'm sorry to say that I don't have much more to report," she sighed. "The last interesting thing to pass through my sight was something about moving a 'Zero-Two—'"

"Zero-Two?" Sven echoed. "You mean there's another one of these things?"

Shams looked back and forth between them. "Hang on, what? I'm missing something."

"It's below your pay grade—" Sven started.

"_Technically_, my darling little Sven, it's below _all_ of our pay grades," interrupted Irene, aggravating the silver-haired pilot even further with a finger on his lips. "And _technically_ you have absolutely no authority to be sending me out on a reconnaissance mission, especially one of an extended duration, and _technically_ you owe me _big_ for this because I have had it with that rotten bastard."

"_Whoa_ there," Shams said with a nervous chuckle, "okay, more than I wanted to know."

"I'm thinking a candlelight dinner and a walk on the beach," she went on with a wicked grin. "At dusk, we—"

"The _mission_, Irene," Sven groaned.

"Anyways," she went on, looking over at Shams, "the short version is that that little Angel of Death you guys keep running into is apparently the result of a secret Eurasian weapons program. Turning a Newtype into a highly-trained mobile suit pilot. Sort of their answer to the Extended."

"I _knew_ she was a freak!" Shams exclaimed gratefully. "Man, I feel better. Now if you could only explain what the hell Shinn Asuka eats for breakfast..."

"This Zero-Two, though, is a little more troubling," Irene continued, this time fixing Sven with a no-nonsense look. "As near as I can tell, the backup for this thing was Unit Zero-Two, a clone of the mother. And the clone was captured by, uh," she sarcastically scratched quote marks into the air, "'pirates.'"

"Pirates," echoed Sven.

"Pirates with known contacts to Oliver Wellington," Irene added with a smirk.

"So ZAFT has this clone," concluded Shams. "So what?"

"So, that means that ZAFT now has access to an inordinately powerful Newtype," Irene finished, "and so does the Resistance." She shrugged. "And we don't."

"Which means we will potentially have _two_ human superweapons to deal with, instead of just one," Sven added. "Thank you, Irene. Continue with your observations and, if necessary, ensure that Director Oldendorf does not attempt to destroy any evidence of this program. We need all the information we can get."

Irene pursed her lips. "You mean I'm not done _yet?_" She threw her arms around Sven a second time. "Darling, when do I get my reward for all this injustice you so pitilessly inflict upon me?"

Shams only grinned as Sven squirmed. Laughter was a wonderful thing.

—

A squad of Ground Windams in dull olive green stomped out of their Osprey VTOL transport, bound for one of the _Spengler_-class carriers that would carry them to Carpentaria. Grey watched them march by on one of Yokosuka's many observation decks. This battle was going to be _epic_, and it had been rather strange to see the gaggles of new recruits excitedly looking forward to going into the fire. He was, so to speak, a veteran; he would be among the first ones in, and most of the rookies would be the ones to mop up and fill in the gaps.

That would be ugly, because while even mobile suit combat in a simulator was exciting in an entertaining way, mobile suit combat in actual combat—where it was more than possible to die—was not. The first sortie had been fun enough, against outdated mobile suits and outgunned guerrillas, but then the Gundams arrived and suddenly the war was no longer fun. Suddenly people were dying. People who he had seen earlier that day. People who were his colleagues and friends.

Well, they would have to learn that for themselves. And as always, they would have to learn that the hard way. There was no other way to learn.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

"What do you _mean_ 'mechanical failure?'" snapped Abbey, glowering up at the auxiliary screen on the _Minerva's_ bridge. On the screen, Commander Argus looked nonplussed and merely shrugged.

"Exactly what I said. We encountered a minefield and some of my ships' scale systems have been damaged. I'll have to send them back." He tipped his cap. "My apologies, of course."

"Argus, you're a crucial part of our plan!" protested Meyrin. He merely shrugged again.

"I'm afraid it's out of my hands, captain," he replied. "And with that, I'll have to go before anyone intercepts our transmission."

The screen went dark, and Abbey slammed her fist down onto the edge of the comm station with a curse. "Goddammit, how are we going to pull this off without backup?" she growled. "That son of a bitch _told us..._"

Meyrin put her head in her hands for a moment, mind racing. Not all was lost, she supposed, but it would be far tougher. At least Argus's armada had already drawn out much of the naval squadron defending the base, and there was no way they could return in time to stop the _Minerva_ if it attacked. And on the bright side, the _Minerva_ had mobile suits that could substitute for a full attack force, as long as they worked quickly.

There were far too many ifs in the equation for Meyrin's liking, but it would have to do. "We can still pull this off," she said, straightening up and looking over at Abbey, "but we're going to have make some changes. We'll split up the mobile suit team and let them soften up the base, and then crack it open with the Tannhäuser and go from there."

"On our own?" answered Abbey. "Captain, we can't handle an entire base of that size ourselves. Our mobile suits would be overwhelmed."

"But," Meyrin said with what she hoped was a reassuring grin, "we have the crazy ace Newtypes. And they don't."

It was not a good plan, but it was all they had. And that, she silently reminded herself, would have to be enough.

—

"Y'know, my first school looked kinda like that," Viveka said.

Sitting in the _Minerva's_ computer room with Onigashima's blueprints spread out before him, Athrun cast a skeptical glance over his shoulder at Viveka, leaning on the back of the seat.

"Okay, so I might be exaggerating a _little,_" she added with a shrug, "but seriously, it was a freaking fortress. At the top of a hill, surrounded by huge walls on all sides. Rumor had it that it used to be a prison." She glanced down awkwardly at Athrun. "And where did _you_ go to school?"

Athrun frowned for a moment. "Copernicus. Then, December 1."

"What, just military training?"

"There was a war going on. I had to become a soldier."

She eyed him carefully for a moment, before leaning down next to him. "But did you _want_ to be a soldier?"

"I could put the same question to you," replied Athrun.

"Yes, well, _I_ was the rich and stifled daughter of a jackass bureaucrat," she answered, "and then I got captured by the Phantom Pain and you know how _that_ story goes." She shrugged again. "I can't say I always wanted to be what I am now, but at least I put myself here through my own choices. Can't you say the same?"

Athrun frowned again and returned to his work. Viveka merely shook her head and turned her back towards him.

"You know," she said grimly, "I don't know why I'm still bothering."

—

Emily heaved a sigh on the _Minerva's_ external deck. It was far away from the eye of the storm, but not far enough.

The airlock door opened with a hiss, and Emily glanced over her shoulder as Shinn and Stella emerged onto the deck. Stella went bounding up to the railing, grinning at the dazzling sight of the sun lighting up the ocean. Shinn came to a stop next to her, hands thrust into his pockets.

"Your sister and Athrun are having an episode in there," he said, nodding over his shoulder. "Is that what you're doing out here?"

"Something like that."

Shinn let out a sigh of his own and turned towards Stella, leaving Emily alone with her thoughts, which she turned towards the tempest of negative emotions pulsing somewhere around the ship's computer room. She had spent too much time away from her sister. Viveka was still as energetic and vivacious as Emily remembered, but with hideous injuries and scars—and now, in the middle of a fight, Emily could detect so much more. Frustrated that the man for whom she had such uncontrollable feelings for was so unreceptive and dense; but more insidiously, it felt like it was starting to turn inward and grow tendrils of self-reproach, as though she were starting to wonder if it was her fault that Athrun didn't seem interested. Because of the mechanical arm, the scars, the missing eye. Because she wasn't whole. Because she didn't _feel_ whole.

Emily truly hated to think that her sister actually felt that way about herself, but what could she do? Once she turned over the contours of her sister's feelings in her mind, she found the similarities in herself. And that was what was truly maddening about this power; she could never be sure which feelings were her own and which belonged to someone else.

Instead, she turned towards Shinn, standing silently next to Stella as she gawked at the sea. Shinn was not so different, consumed by demons of the past. Then again, he could remember it, and didn't have to worry about uncovering horrible things he didn't know were there if he went looking back into it.

Her problems or someone else's problems...eventually they just became her problems.

—

**Onigashima, United Emirates of Orb**

The wire-grid map on Onigashima's briefing room screen zoomed in onto the Gulf of Carpentaria, where a nigh-indistinguishable mass of green and red triangles flickered into existence. The red triangles were vastly outnumbered by the green, which wedged in their crimson adversaries into the natural prison of Carpentaria. Even geography conspired against the Resistance, hemming in their fleet between two massive peninsulas; and although their ground forces could escape over the flat country to the south, the Alliance could just easily pursue. Why Chiao Xu thought he could assemble a fleet of three hundred and fifty ships, Jona Roma Seiran could not fathom.

But the problem would soon solve itself. The massive fleet of four hundred ships growing around Yokosuka and Port Moresby would put an end to that.

"No requests have been made of Onigashima," explained General O'Donnell, switching off the screen, "but we have been advised to stay on standby. They may change their minds after the battle. It'll probably be nasty."

"The biggest amphibious assault operation since Normandy," Jona added with an approving grin. At his side, Mara merely grinned back. "What a pity that we can't be there for the fun."

O'Donnell arched an eyebrow at the Governor-General. "It's probably not going to be all that 'fun,' sir. They'll be attacking a heavily-fortified installation. Estimates for casualties are topping out at about 40%."

Jona waved a dismissive hand. "I'm sure they expected it. What about our friends on the _Minerva?_"

Duly, the screen changed to a map of Onigashima. The green triangles representing Onigashima's meager naval squadron were far to the west—and the _Minerva_ was approaching from the southeast.

"That," said O'Donnell, "is a much less optimistic story."

Jona expertly checked his smile.

—

**April 1st, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

Talia's office looked much the same today as it did in CE 73, when Shinn Asuka found himself there in handcuffs. Meyrin did not feel that it was her office to decorate or alter; but there was, hanging over the bed, a lone picture. It was a jubilant Lunamaria Hawke, diploma in hand in her ZAFT Red cadet's uniform, arm thrown around her startled sister's shoulder at their graduation.

Meyrin herself, for that matter, was behind the desk with her head in her hands, poring over charts and a bewildering array of information on her computer screen. She glanced up wearily at Shinn as he walked in and settled himself down onto the opposite chair.

"Things not going well?" he asked with a wry grin.

"You noticed." She turned the screen around and pointed at something; Shinn squinted at it, and then blinked in surprise.

"What—Onigashima's squadron was wiped out? That was five destroyers. Was this Argus's doing?"

"His are the only ships around here that we know about," Meyrin said, "but his ships are still hanging out to the west. They aren't budging."

Shinn put a hand to his chin in thought. "He said he had to return to Carpentaria because of engine problems, didn't he?"

"And yet apparently his problems weren't so serious as to keep from sinking _five destroyers!_" She pounded her fists onto the desk, heaving a sigh that seemed to force everything out of her. "I thought the threat of _genocide_ would've been enough to get us all to put aside these _stupid grudges!_"

There were no death camps in this genocide, of course, Shinn thought bitterly. The bulk of the work had been done by the Requiem three years ago. All that remained was to hunt down and finish off the survivors, and wait for ZAFT's return.

On some level, Shinn wondered if this was his fault somehow. The ZAFT veterans at Carpentaria and elsewhere despised him for betraying them during the Battle of Arzachel Crater; they thought he had cost them the war. Had he? If he had stayed with ZAFT, stayed on this ship, piloted the Destiny for Gilbert Dullindal, would the Requiem have never been fired?

Of course not, he knew. Even if the PLANTs still stood, he would have been fighting on behalf of a system that would have destroyed Stella—and his own ability to choose—and everybody else's ability, for that matter. He would have been a mere weapon. At least he knew that now, piloting the Destiny for the _Minerva_ and the Resistance, he had come here by his own choices. His own choices that had cost the lives of so many of his friends...

"Shinn," Meyrin said suddenly, "what do you think Argus is up to?"

Would he really attack the _Minerva?_ Isolated units might do so, but would a ZAFT White-Shirt in charge of three _Vosgulov_ submarines and four land battleships really be so foolish? It was a sixth of the ZAFT Remnant's forces he had under his command.

"I think he's just putting on a show about how pissed he is about having to work with us," answered Shinn. "I would really be surprised if he tried anything serious. Grunts might take swings at me, but Argus _is_ a ZAFT officer."

"Yes, well, at the same time, Argus is a ZAFT officer," Meyrin replied. "God, this job is hard enough _without_ our allies being a bunch of idiots."

Shinn shook his head and wondered if that was his fault too.

—

Gunshots rang out on the outer deck as Emily emerged from the airlock, finding herself for the second time interrupting somebody's target practice. This time it was Viveka, ruthlessly riddling a paper target sheet with bullet holes. She paused only to glance over her shoulder and shrug at her sister.

"Um, are you okay?" Emily started, punctuated by the crack of a gunshot.

"Do I look okay?" Viveka asked back.

Well, she had her there. Emily cautiously made her way around as her sister emptied the clip and tossed the empty handgun down.

"You know, you should learn to do this," Viveka said. "You never know when you'll have to open somebody's face up by nine millimeters."

Emily pursed her lips. "Okay, really, what's wrong? Is this about Athrun?"

Viveka simply seethed for a moment, and Emily pondered just dropping it altogether, before her sister finally let out a deep sigh. "It's about a lot of things," she answered, and shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

At that, Emily could only frown skeptically. "You don't _feel_ like you'll be fine."

"Oh yeah, you can do that," grunted Viveka. "Well, if that case, if there's no keeping secrets from you," she turned around, "can you tell me just what the hell is going on in Athrun Zala's head? Why I can't get through to him?"

Really, Emily couldn't quite see what her sister saw in Athrun in the first place. Then again, she was starting to wonder what she saw in Shinn, the _Minerva's_ _other_ churning whirlpool of angst and haunting demons, so perhaps, she supposed, she had no room to talk.

"The only thing I really feel from him," she answered, pausing to choose her words carefully, "is regret. Lots of regret. And frustration, and self-loathing." She shrugged. "He's not happy."

"I _know_ that," Viveka groaned. She put her head in her hands and sighed again. "Look at me, pining over a _boy_. You'd think I'd be past that." She flexed her mechanical arm, for a moment regarding the quiet hum of moving actuators. "_Way_ past that."

Emily ran a hand through her hair and glanced out awkwardly towards the sea. Her own problems, she decided, would have to wait.

—

"I'll be fine on my own, Stella," explained Athrun on the gantry, standing with Stella and Abes next to the slumbering Infinite Justice. "I know what to expect with this one."

"Okay..." Stella said quietly, looking completely unconvinced.

"She does have a point, Athrun," Abes added. "You'll have no choice but to engage at close range, which is always risky. Especially since we'll be quite outnumbered."

Athrun glanced down at the laptop in his arms, the golden Akatsuki glowing on its screen. "I have to beat this thing anyway," he said. "It's personal. I can't leave this country without knowing that at the absolute least, they can't _defile_ her symbol like this anymore." He narrowed his eyes at the Akatsuki's shiny face. "I can't let Cagalli be turned into a tool for the Seirans."

Abes glanced down the gantry awkwardly, at another Gundam standing silently nearby. "Yeah, well, you can't let it _control_ you either," he said. "I know memories and symbolism are all you have left of the Orb Raiders, but the Orb Raiders aren't the only thing you have left." He gestured sweepingly towards the rest of the ship. "You've got us. We have Coordinators and Naturals and Extended here, and we've got our rough edges and our tensions, but the important thing is that we've spent the past three years fighting together. We're a team of our own now, just like they were—and you're part of us, just like you were part of them." He crossed his arms. "Now, I don't really want to get involved in all the drama around here, but at the same time I would rather you knock it all off. You've been like this for as long as you've been here; Viveka has just made it unavoidable. You need to get your head on straight, or else who knows what you'll turn into."

"It's not that simple," Athrun protested. "I can't just sweep aside my entire identity. For all my life I was told by my father to fight for my people. He turned out to be a madman, but I thought I had found the cause I needed to fight for when I joined Lacus and Kira and Cagalli—but that was all gone, just like that." He shook his head. "I can't just leave it."

"But we're Athrun's friends..." Stella started, not looking as though she totally understood the conversation—but certainly understanding when she needed to affirm her friendship.

Abes studied the brooding young Coordinator for a moment. "I'll put it for you like this, then," he said. "In training, they told us that sometimes we would get machines that were damaged beyond repair. And it would suck, because we'd have no choice but to scrap it or cannibalize it. But they told us to look for opportunities in those cases, for salvageable parts or the chance to build something entirely new." He shrugged. "It's terrible that you lost everything at Solomon's Sword. Shouldn't happen to anyone. And you shouldn't forget about them. But this," he gestured out towards everything around them again, "is all new. The slate's clean. You can start again fresh."

Athrun looked back down towards the Akatsuki's image, and glowered at its shining armor.

"Not yet I can't."

—

Rau Le Creuset would have almost been proud. The _Minerva's_ crew had been hand-picked by the ZAFT high command, consisting of enough talented young recruits and a corps of experienced commanders to give them orders. Much of that crew had survived the Junius War, and now it was part of what made the _Minerva_ so formidable in battle. And as a former ZAFT officer himself, well, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride, even for its nervous captain and haunted pilots.

Mostly, he mused, because that made them useful, and if there was one trait Rau Le Creuset valued, it was usefulness.

He stood with arms crossed in the interior observation deck, gazing out over the _Minerva's_ sloping hull and towards the horizon. Onigashima was waiting there, but Onigashima was probably not going to be much of a challenge to the _Minerva's_ experienced pilots. Especially not after Commander Argus had destroyed their naval detachment. The island's rocky surface could stop lots of things, but it would be hard-pressed to stop the mighty Tannhäuser.

And yet Argus had chosen not to aid his erstwhile comrades' attack, but had instead chosen to plant his fleet in between Onigashima and Carpentaria, such that if the _Minerva_ wanted to return to Carpentaria after the battle, it would have to go through Argus's fleet.

Of course Captain Hawke could not see it coming. She understood intellectually that she and her ship were hated among ZAFT veterans, but she did not understand in her heart—and that, Rau knew, was the true mover of mankind. And it was clear to a sober-minded, experienced strategist like Rau that Argus was setting up an attack of his own. He had the forces and he had the hatred, and hatred merged with power could do fearsome and foolish things.

And that would not do. Not at all. Not while the _Minerva_ and its pilots—and its Angel of Death—were still useful. And not while the clock was ticking.

—

"Man, our part of this plan sucks," sighed Auel, leaning heavily against the gantry railing and watching as Sting reloaded the Chaos' CIWS ammunition. "Figures that Shinn and Emily get to go smash up the base."

"It's a giant rock," Sting pointed out. "They'll have a hard enough time breaking it open before they can do any smashing." The Chaos' CIWS compartment swung shut, and Sting finally let go of the crane controls, heaving a sigh and running a hand through his hair. "I wonder what we're going to do after this. Probably go back to Carpentaria, huh?"

"Oh, that'll be fun," Auel snarled. "Get shot at by our own allies and have to hole up inside the ship again. What could be better?"

Sting hated it when Auel had a point. Wellington could keep hold of some discipline over his troops, but how far did that go? It would have to at least extend to battle—because when the _Minerva_ joined the attack on Heaven's Base, as it surely would, the plan wouldn't work if there were Resistance troops on the field shooting at anyone but the Alliance.

"Well," Sting said, choosing his words carefully, "they're professionally-trained soldiers. They're better than a lot of what we have." He glanced ruefully at the slumbering Chaos. "And if they can end this war, well, I'll take 'em."

Auel snorted in disgust. "They're not gonna end the war, Sting," he said. "They're gonna just change it."

—

**Hart Senate Office Building, Washington DC, Atlantic Federation**

"Andrew," began Senator Meyers, seated in his shadowy office with his hands folded on his desk, gazing sardonically across at the awkward junior senator from Mississippi, "quite frankly, I would have expected you to be strongly in favor of this spending measure. It means billions more for the Pascagoula shipyards."

Truly, Robert Meyers hated dealing with novices, especially novices within his own party who had yet to realize that the halls of political power were no place for integrity. Senator Andrew Kauffman certainly had yet to learn.

"Sir, many of my constituents are coming home in body bags," he protested. A flicker of sympathy entered his eyes. "And some of them are winding up in body bags without ever having left home at all."

"Such is war," shrugged Meyers. "For our plan to work, we must bide our time and endure the fighting for a while longer. And I admit that it is difficult to strike the right balance between sounding _too_ enthusiastic and not sounding enthusiastic enough, but strike that balance we must anyway, as appropriate public cover." His expression darkened. "You know what will happen if we don't."

"But sir, I just can't believe that very many people are going to believe that President Vasserot is selling us out to Lord Djibril's administration," protested Kauffman. "And our case for impeachment—"

"Senator," Meyers said, with the unstoppable voice he so often used on the Senate floor, "we're really not in a position to vacillate here. Vasserot is a puppet of Lord Djibril, and we have the twin trump cards of nationalism and the heavy burden this war has placed on our federation. We have been fighting a war almost continuously against an ever-shifting opponent for seven years, and even if the public fears the Resistance and its terrorism, their opinions can still be manipulated. And they must be manipulated." He risked a paternal smile. "All I need to know, Andrew, is whose side you're on."

Kauffman looked taken aback. "Y-Yours, sir."

Meyers' grin widened.

"Perfect."

—

**April 2nd, CE 77 - Onigashima, United Emirates of Orb**

"_Minerva_ has entered sensor range!" called out one of the operators in the Onigashima control room. Standing in front of the command console, O'Donnell scowled at the image on the screen before him. The _Minerva_ was plowing through the early morning sky, heading straight for his base.

"All mobile suits, prepare to launch and intercept," he ordered. "What is the Governor-General doing?"

"The _Lapis Lazuli_ is making ready to depart, sir," another operator reported. "Shall I hold?"

_Damn it, he's trying to abandon us here!_

"I will deal with this myself," he replied. "All defensive emplacements, activate and fire at will!"

O'Donnell whirled around and stalked out of the control room. It was time for a talk with the Governor-General.

—

The Infinite Justice rocked as the catapult flung it out over the ocean, before the thrusters took over to carry the mobile suit into the air. Inside, Athrun narrowed his eyes at Onigashima, far ahead. The giant aircraft carrier that was harboring the Akatsuki had docked there. He would drive it out.

He glanced to the side, watching the Savior fall into formation next to him. _So she's going to help me after all,_ he thought.

Up ahead, the island began to come alive as the Windams took up their positions or rose into the air to meet the attackers.

Abes' words echoed in his head—that he had a chance to start something new. But only after he had finished what remained of the past. That mobile suit was meant for Cagalli. She had been destroyed; now, as Jona Roma Seiran desecrated her memory with her own sword, Athrun Zala would have to put an end to it.

_Then,_ he thought, glancing again at the Savior, _I can explain it to you._

The Justice rocketed towards Onigashima.

—

To be continued...


	44. Phase 44: The Dawn's Carriage

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 44 - The Dawn's Carriage

—

**April 2nd, CE 77 - Onigashima, United Emirates of Orb**

"Follow my lead," instructed Shinn as the Destiny and Twilight skimmed low over the sea on the approach to Onigashima. "This fight will be a different beast than anything you've fought before."

Emily cast an anxious eye towards the imposing island, studded with artillery and missile launchers and CIWS emplacements—not to mention a large group of mobile suits rising up over the island's craggy summit. There was a large opening in the side of the island, which looked to be designed for ships—but that opening was blocked by a huge metal door, and that, she supposed, was going to be her target. But first things had to come first—and right now the first thing was the squadron of Murasames streaking straight towards the two Gundams.

"Well, this is where the fun begins," Shinn sighed, cracking his knuckles audibly over the comm. "I'll take care of them and you break through and go tear shit up. Sound good?"

"Sure," answered Emily, swallowing the knot of nervousness in her throat and seizing her mobile suit's controls. This should be easy, she told herself, as long as that golden thing didn't show up.

And if it did, well, then that was Athrun's business.

—

"Governor, the _Minerva's_ mobile suits are on an attack bearing," General O'Donnell growled in the Onigashima control room, staring up at the unperturbed Governor-General in the dim electronic light. "This base's garrison has been dispersed and its naval squadron was sunk in battle. We're vulnerable, sir. You need to launch the _Lapis Lazuli_ if we're to have a chance."

"Of course, of course," Jona agreed with an airy wave of his hand.

"And you need to evacuate at once," O'Donnell continued. "A Governor-General of an Atlantic Federation protectorate is simply too tempting a target—"

"General," Jona interrupted, gesturing towards the door. "A moment, please?"

O'Donnell anxiously followed the Governor out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. "Sir, this is madness," he protested. "I don't understand why you dragged the _Minerva_ to the—"

"And you never will," Jona cut him off. O'Donnell never had the chance to blink as Jona turned with a silenced pistol drawn from his coat and shot the general in the throat.

O'Donnell slumped to the floor in a bloody heap, and Jona merely blew the smoke from the barrel, straightened his jacket, and turned on his heel. He went striding down the hall, flipping open a cell phone with one hand as he slid the gun back into his jacket. "Mara, get going in the Akatsuki," he ordered. "Start opening the gate. The _Lapis Lazuli_ will launch as soon as I'm aboard."

"And what about the Alliance forces that have already launched?" came her response, tinny and slightly garbled.

"Let the _Minerva_ have at them. If they seek refuge with us, kill them. We're burning our bridges here anyway."

"This is a little soon to be playing the heroic separatist, Jona," warned Mara.

"It will do. Soon Djibril will be too busy for us." He cracked a smirk. "He'll have much _scarier_ things to worry about."

A quiet chuckle came through from the other end. "Can't argue with that. I'm launching."

Jona snapped the phone shut and grinned.

—

The engines screamed and the cockpit rattled as the Infinite Justice sailed into battle, beam rifle armed. Athrun flicked his eyes over the mobile suit's panoramic screens, feeling the familiar fire of warfare creep into his bones. His quarry, armored in brilliant gold, was impossible to miss—and, as a flash of light shot from the ponderously opening doors in the side of the island, it was on its way.

"Viveka," Athrun began, casting a sharp glance towards the Savior, still in mobile armor mode. "Stay back at first. We'll do this as we planned."

The Justice dipped down towards the sea, and Athrun fixed his eyes on his approaching prey. He switched out his beam rifle for a single saber—just one for now, igniting the blade with a flourish. No sense wasting time on the rifle—but the first task before him was to get rid of the beam rifle in the Akatsuki's hand.

The Akatsuki opened fire; Athrun threw his Gundam towards the water's surface, pulling up just as his Gundam's legs brushed the surf, and the Justice rocketed over the water towards its foe. The Akatsuki ducked to the left as Athrun charged with his saber held high—just in time for the Justice to whirl around and slam its own saber down onto the Akatsuki's shield. The golden mobile suit flung its left arm skyward, sending the Justice's saber up with it; an instant later it leveled off its rifle—

Athrun snapped his eyes towards the sky. "_Now!_"

A torrent of plasma burst out of the sky from the Savior. The Akatsuki glanced almost contemptuously at it, the air around it distorting with the rippling waves of the _Yata-no-Kagami_, as the blasts hit home and instantly shifted towards the Justice. Athrun clenched his teeth. This would be the tricky part.

At Novorossiysk, Emily had managed to alter the properties of her beam saber's blade while in the middle of combat. That, as Abes had explained afterwards, was no small feat; only training so ingrained as to become instinct could provide the skill and knowledge to do something like that without breaking something in the saber's internal mechanisms. A beam shield, Athrun had later noted, was little more than a beam saber with a wide, flat blade, and if beam sabers could deflect incoming fire—albeit only if the pilot possessed abnormal precision and skill—then so too could a beam shield.

Which meant, Athrun mused as the beams approached and the Akatsuki gleamed in the sun, that _two_ could play at _that_ game.

The Justice's beam shield snapped to life, and Athrun swatted Viveka's blasts hard at the last instant. A shower of sparks tore the air and the plasma stream sailed back towards the Akatsuki, slamming into the golden mobile suit in the lower torso and engulfing it in a ball of light and smoke. Athrun seized his chance, roaring forward with his saber held aloft, and brought it down through the first metal thing he saw—the Akatsuki's rifle, shearing it cleanly in two. He swung again, towards the golden mobile suit's waist, and bit back a curse as it instinctively jetted backwards to avoid his killing blow, ditching its ruined rifle in the same motion.

The Akatsuki drew a saber with a flash, the blade shining forth for battle. Athrun brought up his own blade and fixed his gleaming foe with a furious look.

_Two can play at that game indeed, hijacker_.

—

Stella Loussier was an excellent shot, but Auel Neider quite frankly found the idea of sharpshooting to be just plain _boring_. Waiting for your target to blunder into your sights was no way to fight a battle.

That, he mused, was naturally why he was stuck underwater, where the all-encompassing sea slowed down all his movements and forced him to rely on marksmanship over the brute force the Abyss Gundam brought to the table above the water's surface.

A squad of Deep Forbiddens lay up ahead, tridents held at the ready with their huge backpacks folded down over their heads. The first one opened up its claws, coming to a stop in the water, and Auel's eyes caught the telltale rush of bubbles as it let loose a salvo of torpedoes. They were nothing, of course; the Abyss shrugged off their impacts against its shoulder shells and Auel gunned the booster, closing the distance between himself and the four Alliance machines.

Auel grinned as the four Forbiddens broke for the water's surface. Who said he couldn't fight smart?

The Abyss blasted out of the water with a roar as the rocket thrusters took over for the ZAFT-built hydrojet drive, and Auel let out a laugh as his mobile suit sprang forward, impaling the first enemy through the chest with the Abyss's lance.

The remaining three Deep Forbiddens backed away as their comrade met a fiery end, and Auel risked a glance around the battlefield. To the left, Stella and Sting were doing well enough taking on a squadron of Jet Dagger Ls—which left him alone with his quarry, and with the advantage. And with that, the Abyss reared back and unleashed a torrent of beams at the three amphibious enemies—

...only for all three of them to turn his salvos into a skyward light show with their Geschmeidig Panzer armor.

Auel ground his teeth. "Oh yeah, forgot about that..."

The Deep Forbiddens raised their tridents to charge, but Auel stopped them short with a strike of his own, igniting the lance's beam blade and plunging into the fray.

—

The sky lit up with a fiery explosion as Rau Le Creuset claimed his third kill of the morning, and the charred remains of a Dagger L drifted back towards the sea. Inside the Legend, Rau smirked back at the remaining nine mobile suits of the squadron. Their commander's Windam had been little match for one of ZAFT's finest mobile suits, and these men—well, they were just pocket change.

The Daggers split apart and opened fire, aiming to flank the gray Gundam—only for the Legend to push them back with a broad barrage of beams from the DRAGOON units. Rau glanced over his shoulder for an instant, finding the _Minerva_ still there, slicing through the air and heading straight towards Onigashima.

"A rather simplistic plan," he sighed, as he returned his gaze to his opponents, "but I suppose poor little Captain Hawke can't be expected to do better." He cracked a grin. "Children shouldn't be fighting wars, after all."

The Daggers opened fire again, pummeling the Legend's beam shields. Two of them swept in closer for the skill, beam carbines at the ready—Rau seized his chance, rocketing forward. The two Daggers tried to roll aside, but too late—the Legend blasted them both out of the sky with a punishing beam barrage of its own, forcing back their compatriots in the process.

"On the other hand," Rau continued to his cockpit monitor, his grin fading, "this is a rather paltry force you're throwing against us, Governor Seiran." He flicked his eyes momentarily towards Onigashima. "What are you planning?"

—

A Windam charged forward, beam saber held high, with three Jet Dagger Ls in formation behind it. Inside the Twilight, Emily tensed, waiting until the instinct guided her hand—and, seeing her chance, she threw the black Gundam forward and slammed its left hand down onto the Windam's left arm, letting its saber stab fly clear of its target. The Twilight whirled around, yanking the Windam with it and using the machine to swat one of the Daggers into the rocky walls of Onigashima and crush its Striker pack. As the remaining two foes broke formation and clawed for distance, Emily wheeled around again, pulling her white-armored foe with her and throwing it up before her—just as the Daggers opened fire to save their commander, slicing the Windam in two on a salvo of beam bolts. The cloud of fire perfectly obscured her as she leveled off the Twilight's long-range cannon and shot one of the Daggers clean out of the sky.

The second one burst out of the smoke, beam carbine spewing fire. Emily ground her teeth as the beams pounded her shield, and then lunged forward, somersaulted over her opponent, and shot it in the back with a blast from her own rifle.

An ear-shattering explosion roared up somewhere below, and Emily snapped her attention down towards the island to find the Destiny effortlessly carving Onigashima's mounted defenses in two.

"Emily, that beam cannon twenty meters up is going to pin us down," Shinn instructed. "You know what to do."

Emily swallowed hard. "Right," she answered, and the Twilight charged.

—

With sparks flying and splitting the air, the Infinite Justice roared across the sky in a vicious swordfight with the Akatsuki. Athrun had hoped that depriving the golden machine of its long-range weaponry would settle this fight in his favor, but the Akatsuki was proving to be quite the fencer.

Athrun ground his teeth as the Akatsuki slammed down its saber onto the Justice's blade. Well, there was more than one way to win a swordfight.

The Justice surged forward and hurled the Akatsuki back with sheer thruster power. Athrun snapped his glance to the right—"_Now!_"

The white bolt cracked the air before Athrun's eyes as the Savior fired off another round of plasma. Again the Akatsuki deflected it, angled upwards over the Justice's head—only for the Justice to leap into its path and swat the blast back towards the Akatsuki.

The bolt appeared again, and Athrun's eyes went wide as the Akatsuki simply deflected the blast straight back at him again. This time it smashed into the Justice's beam shield, driving the Gundam back—and the instant the blasts burned off, the Akatsuki lunged down from the sky, beam saber held aloft—

Rattling Athrun's teeth with a thunderous crash, the Savior Gundam barreled out of the clouds and rammed the Akatsuki aside with its shield. As the golden mobile suit faltered, Viveka seized the opportunity to pummel its armor with another plasma blast, too quick for the Akatsuki to deflect but still crashing harmlessly against the _Yata-no-Kagami_. It responded with a beam cannon blast of its own, forcing the Savior back on the defensive—only for Athrun to sweep in with a shout and drive the Akatsuki back further with a punishing beam saber blow.

"I didn't spend three years of my life for this," Athrun growled, even as the Justice and Akatsuki traded savage saber strokes. "Not for you to turn her into your puppet..." The Akatsuki brought its blade crashing down onto the Justice's shield; Athrun shoved his machine's left arm out, knocking the Akatsuki's saber to the side, and swiped furiously at the golden machine's waist—only to be stopped by its own shield. "Not my childhood, not my life..."

The Akatsuki surged forward, lining up for a diagonal cut down the Justice's torso. Athrun charged back, stabbing forward to stop the blow and leaving the two mobile suits locked together, glowering at each other.

Athrun stared into the Akatsuki's eyes, and clenched his fists around the Gundam's controls as Cagalli's eyes stared back.

—

**Orb **_**Takemikazuchi**_**-class supercarrier **_**Lapis Lazuli**_

"Yes, defense only," explained Jona, settled into the _Lapis Lazuli_'s command chair on the bridge and watching as the massive ship slid out of Onigashima's dock. "Just protect the ship. They can do what they like to the island."

Tanaka turned from Jona to begin handing out orders, and the satisfied governor sat back. This would be a bit tricky, but it was Onigashima and not Governor-General Seiran that was the _Minerva's_ target—and they did not exactly have the forces to spare.

As the bridge crew set to work, the auxiliary screen flickered. The communication officer started up in his chair and then looked over his shoulder. "Governor, we're getting a signal on the Sigma Line!"

Jona felt his blood freeze. The Sigma Line? Only a handful knew of that line, for secure communication with...Lord Djibril? Impossible, Jona thought; he could not have discerned this plan so quickly. Simply impossible.

"Orders, governor?" the officer asked.

Composing himself, Jona nodded silently, and the officer put the transmission through. Instead of the prim Djibril or an Alliance officer, however, he found himself presented with an entirely different face—a scowling man in a white ZAFT uniform, a snakelike scar winding from the corner of his left eye.

"Good morning, governor," he intoned, a voice rippling with something Jona guessed was impatience.

Undaunted, he sat back and put on a neutral expression. "Good morning, sir. Might I inquire as to who you are and how you learned of this channel?"

"You might," the man answered. "I am Commander Argus of ZAFT, and I am the man whose task force destroyed your base's naval squadron. I understand your base is being currently assaulted by the _Minerva_, correct?"

Tanaka glanced sharply at Jona, who eyed the man carefully. "Yes," he started, "but why, if you are on their side, are you contacting me?"

Argus allowed himself only the barest of grins. "Who said I'm on their side?"

Understanding dawned, and Jona barely suppressed a smile of his own. "Well, commander, my curiosity remains unsatisfied," he continued, "so I must ask again what's going on here. Why are you contacting me, and what do you want from me?"

At that, Argus's smile disappeared. "The _Minerva_."

"For what?"

A flash of anger rippled through Argus's eyes. "To _kill_ them, governor." He shifted impatiently. "I do not know what is going on at Onigashima and I do not care. I want you to chase off the _Minerva_. Do not destroy them; force from the field. I and my men will be waiting, and we will destroy them."

Jona quirked an eyebrow. "Why should I believe you, commander?"

Scowling, Argus fixed Jona with a furious look. "Governor, perhaps you do not appreciate the position I'm in. Some of my commands were lost to the _Minerva's_ treachery; some of my men were killed by Shinn Asuka's treachery; my people, my homeland, my _raison d'être_ were destroyed by their treachery. If you think I am willing to overlook those crimes for the sake of expediency, you are mistaken. We have overlooked too much for expediency's sake. Give them over to me, governor, and I will ensure that they never bother you again." He paused for only a moment. "Do we have a deal, governor?"

Jona studied the man's face for a moment, thinking it over, before he cracked a grin. "I believe we do, commander," he replied. "I believe we quite possibly do."

"Pleasure doing business with you, governor," responded Argus, and the screen went dark.

Tanaka whirled around on the governor in disbelief. "Sir, I can't believe you just did that," he protested. "We have no idea—"

"Captain," Jona interrupted, grinning a little wider, "let's take a chance, shall we?" He gestured towards the comm officer. "Ensign, send out the order to our mobile suits. All units are to return to the _Lapis Lazuli_, and we are to retreat at once. Leave the Alliance troops to their fate. We wouldn't want to disappoint Mr. Argus," he glanced at Tanaka with a wicked smile, "now would we?"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

_This is too easy,_ mused Meyrin as her ship plunged through the sky. _Not enough mobile suits. Something is up._

"Target is in range of the Tannhäuser," reported Chen. "Charged and ready."

"And Shinn reports that there's a fissure in the third quadrant," added Roxy, "so we can crack this son of a bitch open like a raw egg."

"Lock onto his laser designator," Meyrin instructed, "and fire as soon as we're clear."

No, not enough mobile suits had joined this battle. Could the base's garrison have been depleted by Argus's men? That huge trimaran ship was on the move, but it was clearly leaving and not making a move in the battle—and right now, she couldn't spare anyone to pursue. Possibly Viveka—but Athrun had a plan for that golden thing and required her assistance. And then there was Argus—what was he doing?

"Firing solution is ready," Chen spoke up.

Meyrin steeled herself. No more time for questions. "Tannhäuser, _fire!_"

The red light of the Tannhäuser lanced out from the _Minerva's_ prow, and with an earth-shattering explosion it struck home, blowing off the upper third of the island. A column of smoke and fire rose towards the sun, but through the smoke Meyrin could see that the island was not yet finished. And not until Onigashima was useless would she let up.

"Charge for another shot," she ordered.

She cast an anxious glance to the side, where somewhere beyond the horizon were Commander Argus and his squadron.

_You're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you...?_

—

Smoke and fire filled the sky as the Chaos Gundam's gunbarrels darted across the battlefield, spewing beam blasts and missiles. A squadron of Dagger Ls, struggling to protect themselves, lost one of their number to the barrage—and with the Alliance pilots distracted, the Gaia came roaring in to gut a second one on its beam saber.

Sting grinned as he let loose a beam rifle barrage to cover Stella while she pulled back. "These guys are just small change," he grunted. "Stella, you ready?"

"Ready!" she answered. The Gaia backflipped over the Chaos and leveled off its rifle. "I'll shoot them down!"

"Damn straight you will," Sting muttered. "_Go!_"

The Gaia opened fire with a withering beam rifle barrage, forcing the Daggers back just as they began to regroup. Sting swarmed his gunbarrels around their flanks, forcing them to compress their formation—only for the Chaos itself to streak in below Stella's shots, beam rifle blazing. The Daggers split their formation, sliding around the Chaos and sweeping in for the kill.

An instant later, the beams flashed around them and two more Daggers exploded. Sting immediately whipped around the Chaos, opening fire himself. Between the Chaos, the Gaia, and the gunbarrels, eight of the ten surviving Daggers fell in fiery explosions. The ninth tried to duck under the growing cloud of smoke and mobile suit debris, only to be speared on a masterful shot from Stella.

The tenth burst out of the smoke and roared skyward, clawing for distance. Sting gunned the booster and grinned, effortlessly deflecting the Dagger's beam shots, and with a roar of thrusters he closed the distance and put a beam saber through the enemy's cockpit.

Sting watched with satisfaction as his gutted opponent fell back towards the sea, and glanced back down towards Stella.

"Man, that went well," he chuckled. "What next, Stella? Where's Auel?"

Stella was silent for a moment. "Auel's fighting," she replied quietly. "Stella wants to help..."

Sting glanced over his shoulder and tried not to feel too smug. "That bastard _always_ needs my help. Let's go!"

—

"_Now!_"

The Destiny rocketed by the Twilight's field of vision, ripping open the side of one of Onigashima's large triple-barreled smoothbore cannons and darting aside just as quickly. The Twilight leveled off its rifle, even as desperate missiles, beam fire, and machinegun rounds filled the sky, and squeezed off a barrage of its own. The cannon erupted into a ball of fire, and Emily dropped down beneath a return volley from the two beam cannons on either side of the ruined smoothbore.

A box-shaped missile launcher let loose a salvo of missiles. Emily snapped her attention towards them—only for a CIWS volley from the Destiny to tear them out of the sky, throwing up a pall of smoke. The Twilight burst through, pounding two more shots into the launcher and striking its magazine, blasting apart the entire area. The instinct screamed within her; she threw the Twilight into a steep dive, beneath the return fire of another pair of beam cannons.

"I thought the _Minerva_ hit the power supply for these things," she groaned, even as she righted the Twilight and fired back, blowing off one of the turrets.

The Destiny came crashing down, spearing the second turret on its sword. "They must have an auxiliary power supply," answered Shinn. The white bolt snapped at them both. "Split up!"

The two Gundams darted skyward as another beam volley coursed through the air, and Emily turned her attention towards another squad of Daggers. Shinn descended upon them with his flashing sword, ripping one of them clear in two—and as they broke formation around him, Emily leveled off her rifle and picked one more out of the sky. The two survivors rocketed upward for distance, only for the Destiny to lunge between their ranks and run them both through with a spinning sword slash.

As the Daggers exploded and their pilots vanished into nothingness, Emily glanced down below at the smoldering base. It still had guns, and they were still operational, but that heavy door had not yet closed.

"Shinn," she said, "I'm going to light up that dock for the _Minerva_." She cast him a weary glance. "Let's get this over with."

Shinn tossed back a smirk. "I knew you'd make a good soldier yet."

Emily felt her stomach turn at the idea, as her Gundam plunged down towards the dock. _Just what I wanted._

—

"I denied myself everything for you, Cagalli," Athrun snarled, matching the Akatsuki blow for blow in a dance of beam sabers. The Akatsuki whirled around the Justice, aiming for its waist; Athrun swung backwards, wheeling around to stop the golden mobile suit's saber stroke. "I'm sorry, but I have to move on." His eyes flashed. "And that means I have to destroy _you_."

The Justice surged forward, throwing the Akatsuki back. It leveled off its own beam cannons, firing them straight into the Justice's beam shield. Athrun grunted, his attack blunted, and hurled the beams aside—only to catch sight of the Akatsuki charging straight at him, beam saber held forward towards the Justice's cockpit.

The seed fell, and Athrun glanced towards the left—where the Savior let loose another barrage of plasma, slamming into the Akatsuki's shoulder and throwing it off course.

An image of Cagalli flickered into his mind; he willed it away. "I'm sorry, Cagalli," he growled, even as he connected his sabers and drew the double-bladed weapon with a flourish. "I'm not going to let this go."

The familiar white bolt cut the air before him, and he hurled the Justice down towards its stunned foe.

"_But I still have to live!_"

With an ear-shattering screech of torn metal, the Justice brought its double-bladed saber down into the Akatsuki, shearing off its head, its right arm at the shoulder, its right wing, and its right leg at the knee. As the mutilated mobile suit fell by him, he whirled around to chop off the other arm with his leg-mounted blade. And with a final crash, he pounded two beam cannon blasts into the golden mobile suit's back, striking the unprotected point between the Owashi Striker and the mobile suit's back.

The Akatsuki staggered out of the sky, trailing smoke and fire, and disappeared beneath a fireball at the water's surface.

Inside the Justice, a seething Athrun let out his breath, quietly, slowly, painfully. Cagalli's pendant beneath his shirt felt like lead. He stared with dull eyes into the tower of smoke rising from the water, and blinked away tears.

The Savior drifted down next to the Justice. "Well," Viveka began quietly, "that settles that."

Athrun gave one final glance to Cagalli's last pyre, and removed the pendant, gazing into it through blurry, teary eyes.

_To protect me,_ he thought. _To protect me forever_.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

Meyrin tensed as the _Minerva_ slid into position over the water. Up ahead lay the smoldering Onigashima—and the gaping opening of its internal naval dock, lit up by the Twilight's laser designator.

"Firing solution is ready," Chen announced.

"Tannhäuser, _fire!_"

With a thundering roar, the Tannhäuser sent forth another red lance of light, slamming it into the island's innards. Fire whipped out of the fortress's openings, the island rumbled, and the world shook as an instant later the antimatter found its way to the base's protected magazines and fuel banks. The _Minerva_ lurched back as Onigashima disappeared under a monumental tower of fire, and with a final shudder, the island was gone.

Meyrin sat back with a sigh as, beneath the smoke, she saw only fragments of what was once a mighty Earth Alliance base. _Thank goodness that's over with..._

"Captain," spoke up Abbey, "there's still that carrier."

"Leave it," Meyrin instructed, sitting up. "It's too far away and on the retreat anyway. Recall our mobile suits and set course for Carpentaria. Our mission is accomplished."

—

**Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan, Republic of East Asia**

Lord Djibril sat with a look of something like disgust in the main office of the Yokosuka installation, while Danilov delivered his admittedly less than inspiring report. It was a tale of close calls, near misses, and defeats snatched from the jaws of victory. As a professional soldier, Danilov saw a bright side to it: with each encounter his knowledge of his adversary grew, and the _Charlemagne_ was still an intact, functional, and highly dangerous fighting force. But Lord Djibril was not a professional soldier, he was a politician and a businessman—and if there was one thing neither politicians nor businessmen tolerated, it was failure. Failure cost politicians elections and businessmen profit, and nobody did that to Lord Djibril without regretting it.

The President of the Earth Alliance heaved a sigh and put his hands together on his desk. "Captain Danilov," he said, "I know you are a talented officer and I know that your scrapes with the _Minerva_ have not been as disastrous as they could have been." He fixed the captain with a chilling look. "I respect you, captain, and I think you are a fine officer. But we sunk over seventy-five billion into developing and building the _Charlemagne_, and its defeats, as you admit, are not due to a fault with the ship. Therefore the fault must lie with the crew—for which you are responsible."

"I agree, and will accept whatever disciplinary measures you deem appropriate, sir," Danilov said, throwing in a servile incline of the head.

Djibril visibly relished that for a moment. "To be honest, captain, you're still more reliable than some people in the Phantom Pain," he said with an airy wave of his hand. "Ordinarily I'd have you dragged out and shot, but, well, we don't live in ordinary times. And besides," a conspiratorial gleam entered Lord Djibril's eye that almost made Danilov shudder, "waste not, want not."

"Sir...?"

"I trust you will keep this under your hat," Djibril went on, "but I will be looking into the issue of shaking things up in the upper echelons of the Phantom Pain's command structure. And of course, the people who get the axe will need replacing. So..." He trailed off and shrugged.

Danilov's head swam for a moment. "I-I'm honored, sir," he started, "but..." He searched for an excuse. "If you make this decision, I will need time..."

"Oh, of course," said Djibril with an imperious wave, "just don't get too used to frontline service, is all I am saying." He offered a knowing grin. "I'm sure you understand."

Danilov felt his stomach turn. "Yes sir."

—

The Superior Evolutionary Element Destined Factor.

Sven sneered. Even the name was stupid. "Destined?" What the hell did _that_ mean? The calculating, rational side of Sven Cal Bayan could not help but believe that this SEED factor wasn't really a factor at all, it was just a hallucination produced by combat stress colliding with brain damage from too many high-G maneuvers. Knock the brain around like a pinball inside the skull enough times and anyone would start to think that falling seeds gave them superhuman reflexes. It was either that or someone was sneaking LSD into the water supplies of soldiers everywhere.

Of course, to the young Phantom Pain pilot standing on the _Charlemagne_'s deck and staring banefully at the panorama of Yokosuka's naval port, that did nothing to explain why _he_ had seen that seed in battle at the Strait of Hormuz. Why was _he_ was like those desperate men who had not been trained and drilled and forged to perfection by the Phantom Pain?

The other explanation, he mused—the one that actually took this "SEED factor" nonsense seriously—was that it represented the brain operating on the level of a Newtype. That itself made no sense. If everyone could access that power, then that made everyone a Newtype, and yet there had been no powers of expanded consciousness or telepathy at Hormuz.

He hated to think about it, but thinking about it was better than being blindsided later on, by his own abilities or those of his enemy. The more he knew about it, the more he could use it to his advantage—and against an opponent like the Destiny, every advantage counted.

All of that meant, really, that he had to consider the possibility that he didn't know everything about himself. He was not the master of himself. He was not in control.

Fortunately, he remembered, glancing across the base, that he had a remedy for that. He was trained for control. He was trained to _take_ control. Control was the most precious thing he could have. The man with no control was the man defeated—in battle and elsewhere.

Control. He needed control. To gain control, he needed power. To gain power, he needed knowledge—of this "SEED factor," and of Newtypes.

And ultimately, he thought bitterly, turning away from Yokosuka, knowledge of himself.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

"The task ahead for us," explained Rau with a sweeping gesture on the _Minerva's_ internal observation deck, with Emily at his side, "is quite simple. We return to Carpentaria and join in the final preparations for Chiao Xu's grand attack on Heaven's Base. We distract Alliance forces across the fleet's course, while the fleet itself steams through the Drake Passage and all the way north to Iceland, where we launch our attack."

Emily cast him a skeptical glance. "And then...?"

"And then we fail spectacularly," Rau said with a grin. "Why, that's all assuming we get a few hundred ships several thousand kilometers from Carpentaria to Iceland. Even if we do, we'll be so far from friendly waters that the very existence of the Earth-bound Resistance as a creditable fighting force will be staked. And even assuming everything else goes well, we'll still need to defeat the Alliance's defenses at Heaven's Base." He smirked back down at Emily. "Any questions?"

Emily blinked. "If this is such a terrible plan, why are we doing it?"

"Because our leaders are fools," replied Rau with a shrug.

"Then why doesn't anybody say something?"

"Because the rest of us are fools too, evidently."

At that, Emily rubbed her temples in frustration. Fools in charge, fools in behind, why didn't any of it make sense?

Rau seemed to sense her confusion and put a hand on her shoulder. "Years of seclusion have probably not taught you this," he began, "but I suppose it's a lesson you'll need to learn." He gestured almost contemptibly at the ocean before them. "That world, out there, is filled with stupid, cruel people. They pursue their own narrow short-term gratification even at the expense of their long-term interest. They dwell on differences instead of similarities; they practice conflict as they promote peace; their words speak of love, but their actions scream of hatred. Right now, Chiao Xu is likely speaking to his officers about the need for restraint and respect for noncombatants; halfway around the world, someone is murdering children in the name of the Resistance, and the Phantom Pain is murdering more in the name of peace and order." He shook his head. "Even if Chiao Xu's plan worked, the world would not change after this war. And Chiao Xu's plan will not work, so the world will certainly not change—or, in fact, it may get worse. If the Alliance thinks they have the upper hand, they will be free to carry out whatever plans they have that have been stopped by the Resistance."

"Like what...?" Emily started.

"Like terrible things," Rau intoned. "You may not remember the end of the Junius War, but the Alliance did not completely destroy ZAFT. A large part of their fleet escaped to Mars. They are not going to stay at Mars forever—not after Lord Djibril destroyed the PLANTs and wiped out so many Coordinators. They are going to come back, and that war—a war with people who have nothing left to lose—will be even worse than this one."

Emily pursed her lips. "Don't they know that?"

At that, Rau smiled. "Humans only know what they think they know. They think they know how the world will turn out if the Alliance wins this war, or if the Resistance wins this war, or if ZAFT returns. They don't. They think the world will be changed by the outcomes of any of these wars. It won't." He turned his smile back down towards her. "No, Emily, the world needs something far more radical than mere politics if it is to change. Something is fundamentally wrong with the world as it is now."

"I don't understand," Emily said.

"No worries," replied Rau. "You will. Think about it. Think about yourself, what you are, what is your place in this world, and you'll understand it perfectly."

—

The external deck was quiet as the sun sank below the horizon, setting the sea alight. It was the twilight hour, an hour that Athrun Zala knew well. He thought back a lifetime ago—was it only three years ago?—when he had stood on the deck of another ship, with Cagalli, as the _Megami_ arrived on Earth on a warm summer night. He had something to fight for then: a home, a country, a haven, a place of shelter while the storms of war buffeted every other shore. It had the power of memory, and as the sun set, the memories came flooding back—and Athrun savored them. They were to be savored. They were all that was left. They were the only way his comrades and friends could live on.

The savoring, of course, came to an end as he felt Viveka emerge through the airlock.

He steeled himself as she approached. Abes' words weighed on his mind; the Akatsuki's gleaming armor blazed in his thoughts; Cagalli's fiery determination burned in his memory. But the only thing that had really burned was Orb, their Orb, the Orb she had promised him—Orb, that is, and Athrun Zala's own humanity with it.

But Abes had a point. The _Minerva_ was new. He had lost everything with the Orb Raiders and the _Megami_ and Cagalli, but he still lived. And certainly he had to live for _something_, or else there was no reason to live at all.

Viveka came to a stop next to him. Athrun frowned as he found her closed off, tightly guarded. Was that his fault too?

"So," she began, "did it work?"

Athrun bowed his head. "Something like that."

"What do you mean 'something like that'?"

"It's a long story," he went on. "One I'm not really comfortable with telling. But maybe I should tell it anyway." He shook his head. "I was Cagalli's bodyguard in the Orb Raiders. We were a little more than that, though, but we kept putting our relationship on hold for our revolution. We were going to make up for lost time once we had secured Orb and turned it back into a haven for anyone who wanted to escape the war." He waved his hand contemptuously. "But, well, that's all up in smoke.

"I put everything on hold," he continued, brow furrowing at the horizon—at Orb. "My emotions, my dreams, my sexuality. I did it willingly, because I had more important things to worry about; but with the understanding that it wouldn't be permanent. And then Cagalli died and Solomon's Sword happened and it all turned permanent." He shrugged. "But maybe it's not permanent. I don't know."

Viveka eyed him carefully for a moment, and Athrun glanced back at her again—almost wincing at the torrent of conflicting emotions. "Is that why you're so cold to me?" she asked. "Because I'm not Cagalli?"

"Because Cagalli is dead," answered Athrun. "But..." He turned his back towards the horizon and fixed Viveka with the sincerest look he could. "Now she's dead. Completely. For good. And..." He waved his hand with finality. "The slate is clean."

Viveka eyed him skeptically. "So what do you want now?"

"I don't know."

"Ah." She paused for a moment, before taking a step closer. "You know what I want?"

Before he could answer, she seized him by the collar and pulled him close. Athrun blinked and sputtered in surprise.

"I want you to make me _complete_."

"You want _what? _I—"

At that, Viveka let him go with a laugh. "Oh, you pervert." She waved her mechanical arm as Athrun's face flushed red. "But look at me. I'm half human, half metal and scar tissue. You don't spend three years in the woods with a bunch of terrorists and never wind up taking a long, hard look at yourself. So you can interpret that however you like, although—" She pulled him close again, leaving just enough space between their lips to speak and transfixing him with a sultry look and a predatory grin. "—I do have a few _suggestions_."

"I-I see..."

"So," she went on, leaving him with a bit more personal space, "are you up for socializing with others today or do you need some more time to brood?"

Athrun cast a final glance towards the horizon. "After you."

—

To be continued...


	45. Phase 45: We Speak For the Dead

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 45 - We Speak For the Dead

—

**April 3rd, CE 77 - ZAFT Remnant **_**Lesseps**_**-class land battleship **_**Monterrey**_**, Pacific Ocean**

Something about the sight of the _Monterrey_'s pilots arrayed before him in their flight suits sent Argus's blood rushing through him with new vigor. They had hung up a ZAFT flag on the hangar wall behind him, all eyes turned up towards the White-Shirt commander on a hangar gantry. Yes, it was a good day to be a ZAFT officer—and soon it would be even better.

"Soldiers of ZAFT!" he cried. "I know you have suffered these past three years, knowing that our comrades are in exile at Mars, knowing that the Alliance grows stronger by the day and our people suffer and die under their brutal hand, knowing that we are all that is left of the fighting spirit of the Coordinators in the Earth Sphere, knowing that we are ZAFT's last representatives on the Earth. And," his face contorted in hatred, "I know you have suffered, knowing that there are _traitors_ in our midst!"

He swung out his arm furiously. "Yes, the 'Blessed_ Minerva_' might be feted by the ignorant Naturals caught up in Blue Cosmos' oppression, but _we_ know better! _We_ know who they really are! _We_ know just what price they paid for their _blessing_—and that price was _our blood!_" He clenched his fist. "But through these three years, training and preparing for this day, you have never forgotten what those traitors and cowards have cost us. They turned against us in our most desperate hour and delivered us into the hands of the enemy. They cost us our homeland, our people, our dignity, our power. And for our brothers and sisters who died, on the battlefield and off, they cost them the voice of a people!"

The air went silent. "But," Argus continued, "we have not forgotten. We will not let _them_ forget. They stole the lives of our people and our comrades through their treachery, and such a crime can only be repaid in blood." He clenched his fist before him. "So, soldiers of ZAFT, we have our task set before us! Our wait is over! Our suffering ends! Go, not as broken refugees and shell-shocked survivors, but as _warriors! _Go as _soldiers of ZAFT!_ Go, and deliver our message!"

He thrust his fist skyward.

"_We speak for the dead!_"

Every man in the hangar pumped his fist towards the heavens. "_For the dead! For the dead! For the dead!_"

Argus grinned as the hangar rang with the words of men speaking once more as soldiers.

In the crowds of pilots, Isaac Kenner looked around nervously with his fist in the air, the hangar quaking with the roars of his comrades.

_Emily...I've got to warn you!_

—

**Orb Navy **_**Takemikazuchi**_**-class supercarrier **_**Lapis Lazuli**_**, Pacific Ocean**

"_Jona!_"

At the blood-curdling sound of his name, Jona spared a pained glance over his shoulder on the _Lapis Lazuli_'s bridge, just in time to see Mara hobble through the doorway on a pair of crutches. She was lucky to be alive, all things considered, and shouldn't have been complaining about the broken leg and all the bumps and bruises. She also wasn't supposed to be up and about like this, but if she really wanted to hurt herself, Jona wasn't about to stop her. Sometimes pain was the best teacher.

"Mara, I seem to recall the ship's doctor prescribing some bed rest," he said, and turned nonchalantly back towards the screens before him. "What is it?"

"You're just letting them _get away?_" Mara screamed. "After what they _did to me?_"

"Oh, you'll live," answered Jona with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Heck, I'll even get you a new mobile suit, 'cuz I'm just such a nice guy."

"They humiliated me!" she snarled.

"It happens," Jona said with a shrug. "The important thing here is that our objectives are achieved. Smacking Athrun Zala and the _Minerva_ around was entirely optional, and although I'm as disappointed as you at the outcome of that battle, it doesn't affect anything in the long run. The Akatsuki can always be replaced, and more importantly, the _Minerva_ is out of our hair either way now." He waved a hand towards the map in front of him. "_Especially_ now."

Mara scowled down at the map, where the narrow outline of the _Minerva_ was sailing straight towards the array of blips that represented those ZAFT ships hovering over the horizon. "Is he really going to destroy them?"

"Who cares? It'll be fun to watch either way," he said. "I have four EWAC Murasames on approach for a few flybys to show us all the fun." He tossed Mara a grin. "Who knows? You may yet get your vicarious vengeance."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan**

The airlock door swung open and Merau stepped out onto the _Charlemagne_'s external observation deck, where she found Grey slumped tiredly against the railing.

"Hey," she started as she stepped up next to him," are you okay?"

Grey turned his tired eyes towards his friend and shrugged. "I guess. I'm just...I dunno, I need a day off or something."

"You picked a bad time to burn out," Merau said with a smirk. "Is this because of Captain Bayan?"

"Oh no," Grey sighed dismissively, "I think I'm used to him. I just treat him like the drill sergeants at Volkov. No, I just, uh..." He shook his head again and closed his eyes. "Haven't got much sleep lately."

Merau studied his face for a moment. "Yeah, I can tell. Why?"

At that, Grey was silent, and when he opened his eyes they flashed with emotion—with hatred, with fear, with disappointment, with anger. "Volgograd."

"I told you not to think about it—"

"Not just the slaughter. No," he scowled, "_her_."

Merau blinked. "What—_her?_" She smirked again. "Don't tell me you're getting a crush on your enemy, Grey."

His clenched fists and furious eyes erased the smirk from her lips. "Far from it. I want to know what kind of world we live in, Merau, where someone like her and someone like me should be on the battlefield together. Where someone like her is called the Angel of Death. Where someone like me actually _is_ the angel of death, taking part in massacres and shit." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but nobody said anything about this when we signed up."

"This is why I said not to think about it," Merau replied with a sympathetic look.

"But I am," answered Grey. "I am, and I can't stop it. How can I? I took part in a massacre, Merau, and I did while looking at the face of the enemy I swore to destroy. Am I supposed to forget?"

"That would be the idea, yes."

Grey glanced back at her. "Then I need you to do me a favor." He paused for a moment, and Merau wondered if he was seriously considering desertion or defection. "During the battle at Carpentaria, I want you to make sure I don't do anything stupid. Even if means killing me. You're the sensible one. You'll know if I'm fucking up."

"Grey—"

"I'm serious, Merau. If I go up against that kid again, I honestly don't know what I'll do." He fixed her with a deathly serious look. "But I know you'll know."

Merau paused to collect herself. "Alright," she started, "but I'm telling you now—you'd better not do anything stupid."

Grey merely smiled. "We'll see, won't we?"

—

**Earth Alliance flagship **_**Chrysalis**_**, Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan**

"If all goes to plan," explained Admiral MacIntyre aboard the _Chrysalis_, gesturing to the bridge's expansive map console, "I expect us to be at Leonora and Bourke by the end of the month."

Danilov studied the map for a moment, evaluating the Alliance's plan to retake Australia. Assuming that all went as planned at Carpentaria, the Alliance's mighty 6th Combined Surface Fleet would disperse after Carpentaria's fall and clamp a crushing naval blockade around the entire Australian continent. Left with the choice of either running a blockade by the largest fleet in history or trying to survive in the unforgiving Australian outback, the Resistance survivors of Carpentaria would be easy pickings for the Alliance's ground forces, reinforced by strategic orbital drops. And if need be, the Requiem could always be recalibrated for another shot—and perhaps a pillar of light reaching down from the heavens to erase the Alliance's enemies would have that crushing effect on morale that Lord Djibril expected.

Assuming all went as planned at Carpentaria, of course.

"Admiral, are we really expecting to have enough ships to enforce this blockade after the battle?" asked Danilov, glancing up at the aging admiral. "Even with the _Minerva_ around?"

"It's a gamble," admitted MacIntyre, "but we can draw on other fleets if we need to." He looked back down at the map. "The Resistance's own fleet is massing there for a decisive battle. We'll give them that battle alright—in their own harbor. All the better to end this war."

Impulsively, Danilov glanced out the bridge windows towards the sky. The battle might end _this_ war, but there was another on its way.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

"We're coming up on Argus's armada now," reported Burt from the sensor console. "But, err, captain, they're in a strange formation..."

Sitting in the captain's chair, Meyrin studied the situation before her. Argus couldn't be so foolish as to attack the symbol of the Resistance; Wellington could not possibly allow it. "Roxy, contact the _Monterrey_."

"Uh, yeah, about that," Roxy spoke up with evident nervousness in her voice, "we're actually being jammed on all frequencies."

"What?" Abbey cried. "Check them again; he can't be so stupid as to—"

The bridge door hissed open and Rau Le Creuset burst through like a typhoon. "_Dive the ship, now!_"

"Dive—?" Meyrin started.

"_Now!_" Rau roared. "_Before they fire!_"

Meyrin hesitated a moment, saw the ZAFT ships' guns angle up, and then seized the intercom. "Malik, 200 meter dive, immediately!"

The _Minerva_ lurched as it nosed down towards the ocean—and Meyrin's eyes went wide as the three ZAFT land battleships and three _Vosgulov_ submarines on the ocean's surface opened fire with a devastating barrage, slicing by over the _Minerva's_ dorsal surface and glancing off its laminated armor. The ship shook, and Meyrin stared in disbelief as Argus's warships angled their guns for a second blow.

"They just shot at us!" cried Abbey. "What the hell—they aren't serious!"

"They are," snarled Rau. "Captain, you would do well to remember in the future that everyone can be blinded by foolish hatred—even Coordinators."

With that, he sprinted out the bridge door, and Meyrin looked back at the _Monterrey_.

_I can't believe this..._ She seized the intercom again. "All hands, Condition Red! Stand by for anti-ship and anti-mobile suit combat! All mobile suit pilots, launch immediately!"

Meyrin slammed the intercom down and glowered at the warships before her.

—

**ZAFT Remnant **_**Lesseps**_**-class land battleship **_**Monterrey**_

"They reacted faster than I expected," sneered Argus in the commander's chair aboard the _Monterrey_, watching the _Minerva_ level off. "No matter." He glanced over at Maddock in the captain's chair. "Send out the order to launch our mobile suits. Split the ships up and tell the submarines to submerge. We'll fan out and catch them in the crossfire."

"Understood, sir," Maddock replied with a smirk. "I've waited a long time for this."

Argus turned his eyes back towards the _Minerva_ with a grin. "So have I. Commence operation!"

—

The Twilight Gundam thundered out of the _Minerva's_ portside hangar, with Emily in the cockpit, eyes darting nervously around the battlefield. "I thought they were on our side—"

A wave of beam fire cut her off, and she rocketed upwards in surprise—only for a storm of green beam bolts to pummel her Gundam, scarring its armor before she could throw up her beam shield. An instant later, a green Slash ZAKU Warrior streaked in close atop a Guul unit, twirling a long double-edged beam axe and bringing it down with a crash. Emily ground her teeth as her Gundam plummeted backwards, only for the ZAKU to follow up with another punishing blow.

Emily clenched her fists around the Twilight's controls, pushing her Gundam higher. "There's only one of you—" The Twilight rocked again, this time as a GuAIZ R on a Guul pounded her with a railgun salvo. "What—?"

As she raised her rifle to deal with the GuAIZ, the instinct bolted up through her—only for the Twilight to quake again, as the Slash ZAKU vaulted off its Guul, slammed the Twilight in the chest with a vicious kick, and then brought its axe down through the Gundam's rifle.

"My rifle—!" Emily clenched her teeth and hurled the rifle's sparking remains at the ZAKU, only for another blast to hit her head-on as the ZAKU darted aside—bringing her face to face with a bazooka-toting GINN on a Guul. "There's still only three of you!"

The Twilight blasted up over its enemies, drawing a beam saber, and the three mobile suits followed with a storm of firepower. Emily seized her chance, diving to the right as the GINN fired again—and with a crash, she stormed forward and slashed the GINN's bazooka in two.

Undaunted, the GINN dropped its ruined bazooka and swatted the Twilight to the side with a heavy blow from its anti-armor sword. Emily whirled around, beam saber drawn back for a killing blow—only to be knocked back under another railgun blast from the GuAIZ R. The ZAKU dropped down in front of her, beam rifle leveled off for a killing blow—

...only for another beam to come screaming out of the heavens, blowing the ZAKU's rifle in two. The ZAKU turned its attention skyward—just long enough for Emily to charge forward and put her saber through its cockpit. She whirled around, glancing up for her savior.

A lone BABI came down next to her, seizing her mobile suit's shoulder, and Emily forced back a smile as Isaac Kenner's face appeared on her auxiliary screen.

"Emily! You've got to get out of here!" he cried. "They're gonna kill you!"

Emily glanced up towards the GuAIZ and GINN, and then threw herself in front of the BABI to deflect the GuAIZ's rifle fire with her beam shield. "I can tell," she grunted. "What's going on, Isaac? I thought you guys were on our side!"

Isaac's face just about bled contrition. "Well, _I_ am," he said, "but you remember what I said about bad blood?"

Emily stared at him in disbelief.

"Yeah," he said, "some of it's _really_ bad."

The GINN and GuAIZ charged, the latter igniting a beam saber on its shield. Emily tensed as they came in close. "I'll handle this!"

The Twilight bolted forward, beam saber held aloft, and sawed effortlessly through the GINN as it brought down its sword. The GuAIZ whirled around the Twilight, raising its own saber—only for the Twilight to lunge skyward and let the GINN's abandoned Guul smash head-on into the GuAIZ, blowing them both apart.

No sooner had she done that than another storm of beam bolts scorched her Gundam's armor, and as she took cover behind her beam shield, she looked up in surprise to find a GOUF Ignited streaking out of the sky, beam guns blazing.

"_Kenner!_" a man's voice roared. "What the hell are you doing?"

The GOUF dropped down towards the BABI with a punishing sword slice, which the BABI barely dodged. The GOUF drew back its sword again.

"Commander Robinson!" Isaac cried. "This is insane! They're not our enemies!"

The GOUF burst forward, ramming the BABI with its left shoulder. "_And you call yourself a ZAFT soldier!_" The GOUF hurled its reeling foe backward and reared back for another sword blow. "Die like the rest of these traitors!"

"_I_ _don't think so!_"

The Twilight sent a pulsing red beam blast flashing between the combatants. Emily ground her teeth and fixed the GOUF with a furious glare.

"If you want to kill him," she snarled, "you've got to deal with me first."

The GOUF backed away, twirling its sword on its fingertips aggressively. "So," Robinson snarled, eyes flicking between the Twilight and the BABI. "You must be that 'Angel of Death' everyone keeps talking about. How is it being the whore of traitors?"

"Commander, this is ridiculous!" Isaac cried. "We need them! We can't win this war without them!"

"_Shut your mouth, boy!_" Robinson shrieked. "What do you know about victory? What do you know about war? What do you know about _them?_" He pointed his sword furiously at the BABI. "If you're really a Coordinator, if you really are one of us, then you'll _shoot that little whore down!_"

Isaac's eyes narrowed. "Not a chance!"

The GOUF's monoeye flashed bright pink. "Then I'll send you both to hell myself!"

—

Plunging the Chaos into the water with the Gaia and Abyss not far behind, Sting Oakley snarled a curse as the surf swirled around his machine's cameras. "This is, what, the second time this year we've been shot at by our own side?"

"I've _had it_ with these motherfuckers!" Auel screamed. "Let me at them! I'll fucking tear them apart!"

Sting glanced down at his map. "We've got to stay under the _Minerva_," he said. "Keep the submarines and amphibious MS from getting at its underside." He glanced over at the Gaia. "Stella, this is the first time you'll be fighting underwater. Are you ready?"

The response was a little gladdening. "Stella will destroy them all."

Up ahead, dark shapes began to materialize as ZAFT aquatic mobile suits in the murky depths, monoeyes flashing to life. Sting switched his rifle over to its phonon maser mode, eyeing them carefully; the mobile suits remained in formation, unleashing a barrage of supercavitating torpedoes. Auel rushed forward as fast as the sea would allow, opening fire with a barrage of phonon maser bolts.

Sting and Stella seized their opportunity, splitting up around the fire, and Sting leveled off his rifle to blow apart a mobile suit. The survivors broke apart, letting loose another salvo of torpedoes.

"Sting, we're not gonna get anywhere like this," Auel complained. "What if we attack their subs directly?"

"After we pare them down a bit here," answered Sting. "Incoming!"

—

"I would have thought you'd have learned your lesson by now," laughed Rau Le Creuset as he spiraled the Legend Gundam through a torrent of firepower. "But I suppose, Captain Hawke, that you'll just have to learn the hard way!"

The Legend abruptly stopped short, whirling around to face the two BABIs and three DINNs pursuing it—and with a sudden blast of firepower from the DRAGOONs, two of the DINNs went down in plumes of fire. The BABIs split apart, leaving the DINN to let loose a storm of missiles, pounding the Legend's armor and forcing the gray Gundam back.

The smoke parted, and a new foe came crashing through—a GINN High Maneuver II on a Guul, with its anti-armor sword held aloft. Rau grinned as he caught the GINN's sword with his beam shield. The two BABIs dropped in on his flanks—only for the Legend to effortlessly force them back with a beam barrage. The GINN struggled against his shield, and Rau seized his chance, gunning the engine and pounding it with a roundhouse kick to the stomach and knocking it off its Guul. The BABIs opened fire again, but too late, as Rau speared his reeling foe on a beam rifle shot through the cockpit.

The Legend went back on the defensive as the BABIs regrouped, and more mobile suits appeared on the radar. Rau merely laughed and grinned down at his foes, watching them rise around him.

"As for you, Argus," he chuckled, "I can't have you spoiling things for me yet."

—

The sky crackled with beams as two Slash ZAKUs and a Blaze ZAKU struggled to shoot down the blinding Destiny Gundam. With a shriek of twisting metal, one of the Slash ZAKUs met its end on the blade of the Destiny's anti-ship sword, and Shinn whirled around to face the two survivors.

"I guess this is my fault too," he grunted, and rocketed upward to avoid the ZAKUs' return fire. "But like hell am I going to let you win!"

The Destiny danced effortlessly around the two ZAKUs' blasts, slamming its sword down onto the Blaze ZAKU and ripping both the mobile suit and its Guul unit in two. As the Blaze ZAKU exploded in a thundering fireball, Shinn charged through the flames and down towards the Slash ZAKU, and with a crash and a vanishing flame of life, he tore the last ZAKU in half.

Even as the ZAKU exploded, Shinn's senses screamed, and he whirled around with his beam shield active—only for a salvo of beams and bazooka shells to slam into it and drive him back.

Behind the smoke, he tensed at the sight of three gray DOM Troopers coming to a stop before him in combat formation.

"So," snarled a man's voice, "you thought you could get away with what you did to us, Traitor Asuka."

"You've had quite a run of it," added another man.

"But don't think you can escape us now!" finished a woman's voice.

Shinn's eyes darted between the three DOMs. "Well well," he muttered, "the Razor Trinity. So you guys survived Solomon's Sword."

The woman with the eyepatch and red hair scowled back at him. "No thanks to you, you son of a bitch."

One of the men sniffed in contempt. "Hilda, I don't want to hear another word from this bastard."

The woman smirked. "Understood. Herbert, Mars, let's kill him!"

The three DOMs rocketed apart and opened fire.

—

"Dammit," groaned Viveka as the Savior quaked under a vicious beam volley, "I don't get why killing us is more important to them than fighting the Alliance!"

Inside the Infinite Justice, slaloming through a wave of firepower from a team of ZAKUs and BABIs, Athrun ground his teeth. "I hate to kill them when we'll need them at Heaven's Base," he snarled, "but..." He seized his chance, firing the Grapple Stinger and embedding it in a BABI's waist, then pulling himself forward, whirling around, and sawing his prey in half and taking off again. "If you leave me no choice...!"

The Savior somersaulted over a charging ZAKU, leaping clear of its beam axe and whirling around with beam rifle leveled—only for another ZAKU to blow the rifle clear from its hands. Viveka jetted backwards, firing back with her plasma cannons—only for a wave of fire from a Gunner ZAKU to force her back even further.

"Dammit, I can't even get a shot in!" Viveka shouted. "Who are they?"

The Justice rattled as a Slash ZAKU brought down its axe onto the Justice's beam shield. Athrun darted backwards as another two mobile suits opened fire from his flanks. "These guys must have been training," he grunted. "Damn you, training this whole time to kill your own allies?"

Two of the ZAKUs reared back and hurled beam tomahawks towards him, forcing him to leap above them—only for the Slash ZAKU to come down with another heavy axe blow. Athrun ground his teeth as the other two ZAKUs pelted him with beam fire. "Ridiculous..."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"_Vasquez_ is approaching, five o'clock!" Burt cried out.

Meyrin glowered at the screen. "Malik, hard to port!"

The _Minerva_ lurched to the side, avoiding a beam cannon salvo from one of the two _Petrie_-class ships below—only to blunder straight into the _Monterrey_'s line of fire. Malik yanked hard on the controls and the _Minerva_ swung around just as the _Monterrey_ opened fire, and ponderously came around to face the two ships circling it like sharks in the water.

"Captain, _Veracruz_ is coming alongside!" Abbey shouted.

"Portside Tristan, fire!" Meyrin shouted.

The _Minerva's_ portside Tristan pounded a salvo down towards the _Veracruz_, the second _Petrie_-ship—only for the trimaran vessel to pull hard to port, swinging directly into the _Minerva's_ path.

Meyrin blanched in horror. "Malik, _pull up!_"

The _Minerva_ groaned in protest as it pulled skyward, just as the _Veracruz_ opened fire again and pelted the ship's underside with relentless machinegun fire. An instant later, the _Vasquez_ and _Monterrey_ opened fire, scoring glancing blows against the rising _Minerva's_ wings.

"We need distance," Abbey growled, glowering down at the three ships as they circled around for another salvo. "But how—"

"Chen," Meyrin interrupted, seething in the captain's chair as her warship wheeled around to resume the battle. "I'm leaving the fire control to you. Take whatever shots you get. Malik," her eyes flashed furiously, "take us down into their midst and get us to point blank range."

"_What?_" Abbey screamed. "Captain, what—"

"We're playing a little game of Chicken," Meyrin responded. "Brace for possible impacts; this will get ugly."

She fixed her eyes on the _Monterrey_ down below.

_And I'm going to make it uglier than you can imagine, Argus..._

—

Beams flying and with his mobile suit groaning in protest, Rau threw the Legend into a steep dive while two BABIs honed in on him from above, spewing beam rifle fire and shotgun bursts. With a smirk, he abruptly slammed on the brakes, letting the two mobile suits shoot by him on either side—and then leveling off his DRAGOONs to pick one of them out of the sky. The other one arced up and fired a blast from its "Ardor" cannon, only for the Legend to effortlessly bat it away with its beam shield.

Rau glanced to the left, as reinforcements arrived—in the form of a Slash ZAKU Phantom, a Gunner ZAKU Warrior, and two Blaze ZAKUs. "I'm impressed, Argus," he murmured, launching the Legend skyward to avoid a ferocious wall of firepower. "You're pulling out all the stops."

The BABI pummeled the Legend's gray armor with a missile salvo, and Rau grinned as he felt its furious pilot close in. With a shout, he leveled off his rifle and fired—drilling through the BABI's cockpit and blowing it apart, and then darting out of the smoke as the ZAKUs opened fire.

"All that anger is marking you clearly," cackled Rau. "Don't think you can hide from me!"

—

With a final scream, Auel burst forward and put the Abyss's lance directly through the chest of an unfortunate GOOhN, spearing it straight through the cockpit. As it sank towards the bottom and exploded, Auel turned his eyes towards the two dark shapes looming in the distance: two _Vosgulov_-submarines, presumably the motherships of these mobile suits.

"Sting, Stella," he said suddenly, "cover me! Let's play some turnabout!"

The Abyss abruptly transformed and darted forward, slicing through the water in its hydrodynamic mobile armor mode. A ZnO rose up in front of him, claws raised for a punishing blow—only for the Abyss to suddenly transform back into mobile suit mode and swing its lance through the ZnO's waist, tearing it in two. Two more mobile suits appeared and opened fire with phonon maser cannons, only to be forced back by a barrage from Sting. And as one of the ASH units moved in for the kill with its claw, it lurched backward as the Gaia stormed forward, planting a combat knife in its cockpit and sending it sparking and smoking into the dark depths.

"Come on!" Sting exclaimed. "Take the fight to the submarines, and they'll have to pull back and defend them!"

Auel ground his teeth as the Abyss charged forward.

—

Teeth rattling as his Gundam reeled, Athrun glowered up at the Slash ZAKU Phantom looming above him, its double-bladed beam axe pointed challengingly towards him. The Infinite Justice rocketed up over a storm of beam bolts and stashed its rifle, whirling back down into the fight. The Slash ZAKU brought its axe down with a crash onto the Justice's beam shield, throwing it back again—

"_Gotcha!_"

Athrun fired the Grapple Stinger forward, clamping it around the axe head and yanking hard, pulling the entire weapon out of the ZAKU's hands. It landed in the Justice's own hands with a crash, and Athrun charged forward, twirling it on his Gundam's fingertips. The ZAKU drew a tomahawk and swung forwards, arm raised for a killing blow—

Athrun hurled the axe forward with a scream, letting it slice off the ZAKU's entire left arm and sever its left leg at the knee. The wounded mobile suit faltered and belched smoke—just in time for the Justice to dart forward and rip it in two at the waist with a blinding beam saber strike.

The Justice rocketed up over the explosion and Athrun scanned the sky. Viveka was still battling a quartet of BABIs—or, as the fiery explosion an instant later attested, three BABIs. He glanced over his shoulder at the ZAKU's flaming wreckage.

"Fools..."

—

Bazooka shells pummeled the Destiny Gundam from all sides as the DOM Troopers flitted effortlessly over the ocean's surface. Shinn followed their movements with his Newtype senses rather than his eyes, even as they pounded his Gundam and blew off his solid shield.

At last, he saw his opening and lunged into the sky, leveling off his long-range cannon for a shot and blowing away the first DOM's bazooka. The other two let loose a beam salvo, and Shinn threw the Destiny back towards the water—only for the first DOM to charge in close with a drawn beam saber and slam it down against the Destiny's blade.

"_Traitor!_" Hilda screamed. Shinn glowered at her, and the Destiny surged forward to throw its opponent back, just as Herbert and Mars opened fire again at the Destiny's flanks. He pounded Hilda's DOM with a hard knee to the chest, and then whirled around to dodge another beam volley, and back down again to dodge a second.

"Is this the best you three can do?" he snapped. The three DOMs slid back into formation, Hilda's beam saber blazing in the surf. "I have to say, I'm not too impressed with the vaunted Trinity!"

"You cocky little shit!" Herbert snarled.

Mars merely grinned. "Oh, you have yet to see our _pièce de résistance_," he chuckled.

"That's right," added Hilda. "Herbert, Mars, form up!"

Herbert and Mars's DOMs lined up behind Hilda, who lowered her own machine into a crouch with its beam saber. Shinn tensed for their assault, watching them carefully.

"_Jetstream Attack!_"

The three DOMs blasted forward, and Shinn's eyes went wide in surprise. Hilda brought her saber down onto the Destiny's sword, slamming the Gundam backwards and then darting to the right; Herbert's DOM pummeled the Destiny with a bazooka shell to the face, and ducked to the left; the instinct screamed inside Shinn, and he threw up his beam shield just as Mars's DOM slammed a beam volley into it and ducked to the right. An instant later, Hilda's DOM was upon him from the side with a blazing saber, barely deflected by the Destiny's blade—only for the Gundam to be thrown aside by a bazooka volley from Herbert and Mars. Shinn darted backwards with a powerful thruster burst as Hilda brought her saber down for the kill.

"Impressed yet?" cackled Herbert.

"I am," added Mars. "Not too many people can say they've survived the Jetstream Attack. Congratulations."

"But _no one_ has survived the second!" Hilda barked. "_Form up!_"

Shinn scowled as the DOMs came at him again.

—

The Twilight rattled as the GOUF brought its sword down hard onto Emily's beam saber, throwing her back with sheer force and charging after her. A sideways swipe sent her reeling further, and the GOUF raised its sword for a finishing blow.

Instead, a volley of beam blasts tore between the GOUF and its prey, and Robinson's eyes shot up towards Isaac's BABI, dodging another blast from its beam rifle.

"You are a disgrace to all Coordinators, Kenner!" Robinson screamed, and sent his GOUF's left-hand heat rod whipping up to curl around the BABI's beam rifle and yank it from its hand. Isaac let out a cry of surprise and leveled off his shotgun—only for the GOUF to close the distance between them and slash the gun in two. "Now I'll get rid of you myself—!"

Instead, a long-range blast from the Twilight forced the two mobile suits apart, and Isaac took the opportunity to rocket upwards and out of the GOUF's range. Robinson turned his furious eyes towards the black Gundam.

"Isaac, I'll deal with him!" Emily shouted, watching as the GOUF charged and brought its sword down onto her saber again.

"I'm not leaving you alone here!" Isaac cried. "They're sending in reinforcements!"

Emily ground her teeth, glowering into the GOUF's blazing monoeye. "Then I'll deal with _those_ too!" She surged forward, pushing the GOUF back, and lined up for a killing stab to the chest—only for the GOUF to spoil her blow with a sword swipe and then a furious kick to the Twilight's face. "You...!"

"Don't think I'm going to give you a pass, you bitch!" Robinson screamed. "All of you traitors with the _Minerva_ will die!"

The Twilight rattled as the GOUF sent it reeling with another hard blow. Emily shook her head and fixed her eyes on her charging opponent. _So much hatred...it's messing with me...!_

With a crash, the GOUF delivered a punishing roundhouse kick to the Twilight's face, and charged down with raised sword at the black Gundam's exposed back. An instant later, a red beam blast from the BABI's chest cannon stopped the GOUF short—just long enough for the Twilight to charge back up and knock the GOUF back with a heavy saber blow to its shield.

"_Kenner!_" Robinson roared. "_Quit interfering!_"

"Isaac, I told you to let me handle this!" Emily shouted. "Get out of here! There's nothing you can do!"

The GOUF surged forward with pure engine power, hurling the Twilight back and sending it reeling with a hard downward sword hack. Emily blocked Robinson's second blow, only to go plummeting back with her entire world rattling as the GOUF slammed its knee hard into the Twilight's torso.

Robinson screamed in frustration as the BABI slammed itself into the fight, a beam saber drawn in its right hand. The GOUF furiously swatted the BABI aside and whirled around, sword upraised to go on the attack—

Instead, Emily fired forward one of the Twilight's own heat rods, slamming the claws into the GOUF's shield. Robinson snapped his attention towards her—just in time to see the Twilight yank itself towards him and send him reeling with a punishing kick to the side.

"Isaac, I'm serious!" Emily exclaimed. "This guy is too good! He'll kill you! Go to the _Minerva_ or something, just get out of here!"

Isaac turned resolutely towards the recovering GOUF. "What kind of man would I be if I did that?"

"A living one! Now go!"

The GOUF charged forward. "_Not if I say so!_" Robinson screamed. Emily rocketed between him and the BABI, raising her saber to deflect his blow.

"_Isaac! Go!_"

The Twilight reeled under the GOUF's blow, and with a laugh, Robinson somersaulted over the stunned Gundam. Isaac raised his saber, but the GOUF swatted its arm wide with its shield—

Emily's blood froze in her veins as she watched the GOUF drive its sword through the BABI's cockpit.

"_ISAAC!_"

Robinson yanked his sword from the skewered mobile suit and regarded the smeared blood on its surface with glee. "And now, Angel of Death, it's your turn!"

In the Twilight's cockpit, Emily stared in disbelief at the cloud of smoke and wreckage that had once been Isaac's BABI—that had once been Isaac. Her eyes turned towards the GOUF's sword, dripping with blood—with _his_ blood. Her ears rang with Robinson's hysterical laughter—

But with a flash, her eyes saw only the seed.

The GOUF roared forward, sword upraised for a finishing blow—but an instant later, the Twilight closed the distance between them with blinding speed and ripped the GOUF's entire right arm out of its socket with its left hand. As the GOUF shuddered under the blow, the Twilight stashed its saber and tore off the left arm—and then, with a crash, the Twilight seized the GOUF by the neck with its left hand and ripped off the GOUF's cockpit hatch with its right. Robinson stared in disbelief as his mobile suit's chest plate went sailing towards the sea—and an instant later, the whole mobile suit shook as the Twilight slammed its right hand over the open cockpit, and Robinson found himself staring down the barrel of the Twilight's right-hand palm cannon.

"Tell me," Emily's voice snarled through the broken machine's cockpit, through Robinson's brain, as he found himself completely at his opponent's mercy. "Tell me what was so important that he had to die!"

Robinson scowled in rage to hide his fear. "D-Don't think you can threaten me, Natural scum!"

"Tell me why you killed him!" Emily snapped back.

The palm cannon's opening began to glow, and Robinson's rage vanished as he looked on in horror at the glowing light—and the growing heat. "You wouldn't," he started. "I'm...I'm defeated! Mercy! _Mercy!_"

"Mercy?" Emily screamed. "You want _mercy?"_ The light grew brighter, the heat greater. "I'll show you _mercy!_ I'll show you the mercy you showed _him!_"

Robinson shrieked in pain as the heat ignited the fabric of his flight suit and flames sprang up over his legs, racing up his body. Writhing in agony with flames swirling upon him, he barely managed to look up through burning eyes at the Twilight's blazing palm.

"I'll show you your brand of mercy!" Emily snarled. "I'll show _all of you!_"

"_HELP ME!_" Robinson screamed, as the flames consumed him.

Inside the Twilight, Emily watched in fury as the smoke poured out of the GOUF's cockpit. At last, she ramped the palm cannon's intensity back up to its normal level, burning away Robinson and punching through the mobile suit's torso; and with that, she hurled the sparking mobile suit downward to explode at the water's surface.

She looked up with furious, dull eyes; a whole squadron of mobile suits was approaching from the air. They looked to be ZAFT models; they were clearly the reinforcements.

"I'll show all of you," she growled, clenching her trembling fists around her Gundam's controls. "I'll show all of you why they call me the Angel of Death!"

—

To be continued...


	46. Phase 46: Emily

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

Note: Spot the Team Four Star reference and your power just might be maximum.

—

Phase 46 - Emily

—

**April 3rd, CE 77 - Pacific Ocean**

The smoke from the GOUF billowed up around the motionless Twilight Gundam as the late Robinson's reinforcements approached. Inside the Guul-mounted Blaze ZAKU Phantom at their head, the mustachioed commander ground his teeth at the sight of the GOUF's wreckage. So much for Commander Robinson. And they had counted on him to _lead_ the attack. Down below, he could see one of the submarines, the _Irenaeus_, surfacing to provide support. At least he had that to count on.

"Th-that thing took out Commander Robinson," someone started.

"Cut the chatter," the commander ordered. "All units form up, and open fire at once!"

Missiles, beams, and machinegun fire flashed and pounded around the Twilight, throwing a pall of smoke around it. The commander tensed, waiting for a sign of life inside the cloud—

...and instead his ZAKU got a blast of smoke in its face, as the Twilight blasted out of the cloud and activated its beam wings with a flash.

"_Impossible!_" one of his wingmen shouted. "We hit that bitch with everything we had!"

"Break formation!" screamed the commander. "All units, split up—"

The Twilight charged with a flash of exhaust, a beam saber shining to life in its right hand, and whirled around its first victim, a hapless Guul-mounted GuAIZ, in a blur of afterimages. The GuAIZ raised its rifle to retaliate, but too late, as the Twilight sawed it in two at the waist and effortlessly continued on its way. The commander wheeled around in disbelief, letting loose a salvo from his beam rifle—but the Twilight fouled his shots with a blur and dove down towards its next target. The Gunner ZAKU Warrior leveled off its long-range cannon; the Twilight slammed its feet down onto the ZAKU's Guul, throwing off its aim, and impaled it through the cockpit with its saber before taking off again.

"I can't get a lock on her—_what the__—__?_" The line from one of the DINNs abruptly cut out, the Twilight ripping it in two with a casual saber swipe as it passed by.

The commander in his ZAKU ground his teeth; three men killed in less than a minute? "Keep away from her!" he ordered. "All units scatter and aim for the flanks! _Fire!_"

The Twilight whirled around, beam shield flashing to life as the remaining mobile suits threw everything they had at its shimmering foe. Another pall of smoke rose up—

Instead, the commander yelped in surprise as the Twilight blasted from the smoke, seized his mobile suit by its head, and then slammed it down into the _Irenaeus'_ hull with a roar of engines. The Twilight drove its saber through the cockpit, then tore open the ship's hull with a powerful saber hack and smashed the sparking ZAKU in headfirst, and leapt off as it exploded and tore the ship open.

Up above, the pilot of one of the surviving BABIs froze in horror. "She...she took out the _Irenaeus!_ There's no fucking way she could have—" He went silent; the Twilight ripped his mobile suit in two and continued on as it exploded.

A Guul-mounted CGUE darted down into the Twilight's path, sword raised high, and brought it down with a crash—but the blade cut through only an afterimage as the Twilight whirled around its silver opponent and slammed its left hand clear through the CGUE's back and out its chest. A GuAIZ R up above lined up for a railgun salvo; the Twilight turned again, hurling the impaled CGUE into its path and letting it get blown apart by its own comrade's shots. An instant later, the smoke burst apart and the Twilight charged through to cut the GuAIZ in half.

Two Slash ZAKU Warriors lunged up on either side of the Twilight, leveling off their rifles—but the sky cracked in two as the Twilight instead fired both of its heat rods into the two machines' torsos, then yanked them in and ripped them both in half with a blindingly fast saber swipe. The smoke parted as the Twilight rose up into the air, beam wings glimmering in the sun.

The remaining three mobile suits darted apart, leveling off beam rifles and filling the air with fire. The Twilight danced effortlessly between their shots, lighting up the sky with afterimages—and, an instant later, it shot towards its next prey, a Guul-mounted GINN High Maneuver II, and drove its left hand clear through the mobile suit's torso. The Twilight whipped around, darting by another salvo from the two survivors and watching as they backed away. One of them, a Gunner ZAKU Warrior, took aim with its long-range cannon for a finishing blow—only for the Twilight to lunge into its face, rip its Guul in two, and then tear the mobile suit in half.

Before the survivor—a lone BABI desperately firing into the unstoppable afterimages—had time to react, the Twilight was there to slash it in two at the waist.

Inside the Twilight, Emily snapped her eyes to the right and immediately hurled her mobile suit backward, dodging a huge pulsing beam from the ocean's surface. There was a warship down there, a _Petrie_-class battleship flinging machinegun rounds and beam fire into the sky, under the escort of four more BABI mobile suits.

On the ship's bridge, the captain of the _Veracruz_ leapt out of his seat and pointed furiously at the Gundam and its shimmering wings of light. That thing had taken out twelve mobile suits in less than four minutes—but perhaps with enough firepower... "Shoot that thing down! All missiles, _fire!_"

The world shook as the _Veracruz_ fired its entire complement of missiles towards the Twilight. Emily narrowed her eyes at the projectiles as they came closer, and a white flash split the air—

...and the captain of the _Veracruz_ could only stare in disbelief as the Twilight swung its left arm skyward and the missiles arced up towards the sun.

"There's no way she could have done that!" he screamed. "That was thirty-two missiles! How could they have all failed at once?" The Twilight's eyes flashed and the Gundam charged. The captain backed away in horror. "_The BABIs! Get David's team here!_"

With a burst of exhaust, the four BABIs put themselves between the _Veracruz_ and the Twilight, letting loose a withering salvo of firepower. Emily ground her teeth and snarled at them.

"Are you not afraid enough?" she growled—and with a crash, she rammed her saber through the cockpit of the first one; the second one lined itself up for a beam cannon blast, only for the Twilight to hurl its broken comrade at it and let them both die in a fiery explosion; the third darted away from the blast, only to be chopped in two by the Twilight's beam saber. The last one leveled off both its guns and opened fire, only for the Twilight to effortlessly swat aside the beams and plow its saber through the BABI's chest.

Down below, the _Veracruz_'s captain gasped as the Twilight blasted out of the smoke and kept coming.

"_SHOOT HER DOWN!_"

Emily glowered down at the desperate warship, the horror from its bridge washing over her. "Well?" One of the ship's beams came streaking towards her, only for the Twilight to bat aside the blast with its beam saber. "Don't you guys fear me?"

The Twilight shook as it ducked aside from another cannon blast, and Emily's eyes flashed in fury as she saw her opportunity.

"Then I'll _make you fear me!_"

With a scream of thrusters and twisting metal, the Twilight somersaulted over the next salvo and came smashing down onto the _Veracruz_'s deck, stabbing cleanly through its beam cannon and ripping it off in a cloud of fire. The black Gundam paused for an instant to glower into the ship's bridge, before rocketing off the wounded ship's deck—

...just as the ship's own missiles came pounding back onto the _Veracruz_ from above, and the vessel disappeared beneath a thunderous explosion.

In the sky, with the Twilight's beam wings shining in the sunlight, Emily watched as the lives on the _Veracruz_ vanished, and turned her eyes towards her next target.

—

Shinn blinked in surprise as he felt a hundred lives disappear and the world began to shake. He tossed a quick glance to his left, where a towering plume of smoke and fire heralded the death of one of Argus's ships.

"Well, that didn't take long," he started—and turned his attention back at the urging of his instinct as the three DOMs barreled at him again. "Oh, not _this_ again!"

The three DOMs darted apart, with Herbert and Mars showering the Destiny with firepower as Hilda charged in close, beam saber held high. Shinn ground his teeth, thrusting his sword forward and spoiling Hilda's strike—but an instant later, the DOM jetted to the left, making way for Herbert and Mars to pummel him again with bazooka shells.

"_Dammit_ is that annoying!" Shinn snarled, lunging into the air.

He snapped his attention up as the instinct screamed, just in time for Hilda's DOM to pound him with a kick from one of its massive feet. The Destiny reeled back toward the sea; Hilda plunged after him, saber raised.

"_Now die!_"

Shinn's eyes flashed, and he seized his chance; the Destiny's engines roared to life, and with a crash he smashed his machine into the DOM headfirst, knocking it backwards. His teeth shook as he drove the Destiny's sword down against the DOM's saber, hurling it back towards the sea, and with a flash the Destiny somersaulted over its foe and ducked beneath another salvo from Herbert and Mars.

_Such a well-coordinated attack!_ Shinn tensed as he watched the DOMs move in around their floundering comrade. _Their discipline must be__—__wait a minute..._

"And not too many people can say they've survived _two_ Jetstream Attacks," Mars chuckled, moving in as Herbert helped Hilda's DOM back to its feet. "I'll admit, I'm mildly impressed."

"Mildly, huh?" Shinn shot back. "Well, don't let me stop you from underestimating me."

Hilda's DOM moved back to the fore, monoeye and beam saber blazing. "Don't think your reputation is going to save you, traitor. Killing those pathetic Naturals in the Alliance doesn't mean you can defeat the three of us. We're the Razor Trinity!"

Shinn merely grinned back. "Can we get on with this? Because all I'm hearing at this point is 'We suck, Shinn! Please kill us! Our little Jetstream Attack is just _so lame!_'"

"_That's it!_" screamed Herbert, lining up with Mars to open fire with their Gigalaunchers. "_Mouthy little prick!_"

Shinn merely smiled, even as he sent the Destiny twisting around their shots.

_Come on guys, one little fuckup, that's all I need..._

—

"The last time I fought one of you," snarled Athrun at the Guul-mounted GINN High Maneuver II in front of him, "was Junius 7. And I was fighting my father's ghost too." The GINN charged and brought its saber down with a crash onto the Infinite Justice's beam shield. "Funny how these things just seem to _repeat themselves!_"

The Justice surged forward, pushed the GINN's sword to the sky with its shield, and ran it through on its beam saber. Athrun darted to the side as it exploded, scanning the skies for his next target.

Up above, the Savior rushed by in its mobile armor mode, followed by a trio of BABIs with guns blazing. Athrun lunged up into their path and ripped one of them out of the sky with a screech of torn metal. The other two whirled around to open fire—only for the Savior to revert to its mobile suit mode and blast them both apart with a plasma cannon salvo.

"You make the best of friends, man," Viveka said, and rubbed her temples tiredly. "How many are—"

"Split up!" Athrun shouted, and kicked the Savior in the chest, knocking both mobile suits apart just as a pair of blazing green beams shot through the sky between them. "What the—?"

Every panel in the Justice rattled as a blue mobile suit on a Guul brought down a blazing beam sword against the Justice's beam shield, flinging it backward. Athrun scanned over the enemy in disbelief.

"What the hell is that thing?" started Viveka.

Athrun grunted as the mobile suit pounded his beam shield with a furious volley of shots. "The CGUE DEEP Arms. Prototype ZAFT MS with experimental beam weaponry. Those guys must be more desperate than I thought."

The DEEP Arms charged again, showering the Justice with beam blasts. Athrun narrowed his eyes, blocking the shots with his shield—and just as the DEEP Arms entered range to use its sword, he threw the Justice beneath its horizontal swing, and ripped off its right arm at the elbow with his Grapple Stinger. An instant later, the Savior was there to put a beam shot through its cockpit.

As the smoke cleared, Athrun tossed the CGUE's beam sword to the Savior.

"What's this for?" Viveka asked, glancing up at Athrun.

"We're taking out one of those ships." He cast a glare towards the _Vasquez_, pouring firepower into the air after the _Minerva_. "No more of this shit."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"_Monterrey_ is 300 at seven o'clock!" cried Burt from the sensor console. "Heat signatures rising!"

"Malik, hard to port! Bring us around!" Meyrin ordered. The _Minerva_ groaned in protest as it wheeled around to face the _Monterrey_ on the ocean's surface. The _Lesseps_-class ship opened fire with a withering beam cannon salvo that sizzled past the _Minerva's_ portside wing.

"Those other two ships have pulled away," Abbey began. "What could they up to..."

"We'll find out after we've destroyed this one," Meyrin replied. "Parsifal, fire! CIWS, target and fire in ten seconds!"

The missiles took off with a roar, and as they arced back down towards the _Monterrey_ the _Minerva's_ CIWS blasted them out of the sky, throwing a pall of smoke over the water. Meyrin ground her teeth as the _Minerva_ nosed down towards the water, dodging another salvo from the _Monterrey_.

"Tristan, Isolde, _fire!_"

Booming through the smoke, the _Minerva's_ portside Tristan and Isolde cannon pounded the _Monterrey_'s port side, blowing off the ship's stern-mounted beam cannon. Meyrin suppressed the urge to smile—the job wasn't done yet.

—

Up ahead, Emily could see a second _Petrie_-class ship, guns blazing as two mobile suits circled it. The Infinite Justice and the Savior, the latter wielding an enormous sword, were trying to sink the _Vasquez_—but a blazing salvo of beam shots from the heavens sent them both scattering on the defensive. Two mobile suits came roaring out of the sky; Emily vaguely recognized them from Shinn's training as one-off prototypes built by ZAFT, captured by the Alliance, and then recaptured by the ZAFT remnants.

She armed the beam saber and threw open the throttle. No matter what they were, they were going to die.

The two newcomers split up, raking both sides of the Twilight with beam fire. Emily flicked her eyes between them both—one a bright red GOUF with a huge claw on its left arm, the other a blindingly yellow GuAIZ with what looked like the Infinite Justice's Fatum on its back. Both of them opened fire—the Twilight darted around their shots effortlessly.

"Emily!" Viveka's voice exclaimed. "Where have you been? We—" She fell short as Emily chose her first kill, lunging towards the GOUF with bared teeth. "Wait a minute, what are you—"

The GOUF rocketed skywards and showered the Twilight with beam fire, but to no avail; its shots passed harmlessly through afterimages and with a crash, the Twilight ripped the GOUF's beam rifle from its hand and hurled it towards the sea. The red mobile suit drew back; Emily's instinct screamed within her, and the Twilight leapt into the air as the GuAIZ opened fire with a flurry of beam shots and railgun shells.

Inside the Savior, Viveka watched in disbelief as Emily effortlessly dodged everything her enemies threw at her. "What...what's going on? Athrun, she's acting differently again!"

Athrun ground his teeth, a hand over his throbbing temple. "It's like Volgograd and Novorossiysk...something's snapped in her, and that training of hers is kicking in."

Up above, the GOUF whirled a massive hammer over its head and swung it towards the Twilight, but caught only an afterimage. The black Gundam darted away, dodging past another volley from the GuAIZ. With a groan of protesting metal, the GOUF brought its hammer to bear, swinging it down towards the Twilight's stomach.

Instead of connecting, the Twilight lunged over the hammer's head, slicing off the heat rod and sending the hammer plummeting down towards the sea. The GOUF backed away; the Twilight was there in an instant, stabbing it through the left arm and destroying its claw. The wounded mobile suit staggered back—

A moment later, the Twilight seized the GOUF by the chest plate with its left hand and rocketed down towards the _Vasquez_.

"Emily, what are you doing?" Viveka cried. "Wait—!"

The air filled with a hideous screech as the Twilight drove the GOUF down into the _Vasquez_'s bridge tower. A plume of smoke and fire rose up from the ruined machine, and the Twilight vaulted off the stricken vessel's deck—and a moment later, the GOUF exploded and the _Vasquez_ snapped in three.

Viveka stared in disbelief as the Twilight turned its attention towards the GuAIZ.

"What the hell happened to her...?"

—

Shuddering under the pressure of water and weapons, the hull of the submarine before the Abyss finally split open beneath the mobile suit's lance. Water gushed into the wound, and the Abyss pushed the gash open further. It would fill with water long before the damage-control systems could take effect, and that would be that. Auel sat back in the cockpit to admire his handiwork for a moment—served the bastards right, after all.

"That about takes care of the _Vanderbilt_," Sting's voice announced. "Now for the other one—"

Auel snapped his gaze to the left, where the murky hulk of the second warship was already launching more mobile suits. Sting and Stella could handle them—and judging by the flashing knife blade, Stella was already getting to work.

The Abyss transformed back into mobile armor mode and darted towards the second ship, the _Carnegie_. _This_ was how to move underwater; nice sleek hydrodynamic form, with all kinds of firepower hidden inside.

A swarm of torpedoes rushed forward from the _Carnegie_. Auel twisted between them, ignoring the shockwave as they detonated behind him, and charged head-on towards the ship's thin midsection, where the mobile suit deck was joined to the engines. With metal screeching and sparks flying, the Abyss transformed, slammed its lance into the ship's side, and tore a long gash open in the hull. The Abyss rattled and Auel winced at the noise even as he widened the opening, seawater pouring in. And with a final, bone-jarring shriek, he pounded a quartet of cannon shells into the ship's exposed innards, ripping it in two with a burst of fire.

As the _Carnegie_ disappeared into the depths, Auel glanced back up at the Chaos and Gaia. As impressive as his handiwork was—and his handiwork, after all, _never_ failed to impress—he supposed that those two still needed saving.

And Auel Neider was nothing if not charitable.

—

"_Why won't you die?_" roared Herbert as his DOM Trooper poured firepower after the Destiny. Hilda's DOM rushed in behind the winged Gundam, saber held wide for a lethal horizontal slash—but the Destiny whirled around, deflecting the blow with a powerful sword stroke and knocking the DOM aside. Shinn cracked a grin, taking off and dodging again as Mars and Herbert traced his flight path with beam blasts.

"I don't know where you three got your reputation from," Shinn cackled. "I mean, I've fought Alliance grunts better than you guys."

"You little bastard!" Mars cried; Shinn smirked back. _Finally, I got through to that one. Now..._

"You have a lot of gall to say that, race-traitor!" Hilda screamed, her DOM jetting in between the Destiny and Mars. "You cost us victory at Arzachel, and after that—"

"Hey, I distinctly remember it was not me who screwed the war up for ZAFT," Shinn shot back. "And it's not _my_ fault you guys were incompetent."

"Son of a bitch!" snarled Herbert. "Hilda, come on! I've had it with this punk!"

Hilda nodded, fixing Shinn with a furious glare. "No more games, Traitor Asuka! You're going down!"

Herbert and Mars' DOMs lined up behind her.

"_JETSTREAM ATTACK!_"

Shinn smirked as they came charging towards him.

_Man, and I only asked for a _little_ fuckup..._

Time slowed as Shinn let the instinct guide his hands. With a roar of engines, he closed the distance between himself and the DOMs, somersaulted up, and slammed his Gundam's left hand through the DOM's chest. He flung the ruined mobile suit to the left and drove his sword forward, impaling the second DOM clear through the cockpit, and then hurled the second DOM to the right. The third one reared up, bazooka at the ready—only for Shinn to drive his left-hand palm cannon through the DOM's chest, and throw his final prey to the side.

Inside her wrecked, sparking DOM, Hilda painfully cracked open her eye and cast her gaze towards the victorious Destiny, floating over the ocean's surface with beam wings alight.

"Of all the people...why'd we have to lose to _you?_"

The three DOMs finally exploded in a thunderous chain of blasts, and Shinn glanced over his shoulder as the three lives inside flickered and vanished. "Should've been a little more creative than that."

The Destiny stowed its sword as Shinn scanned the battlefield. His little tangle with the Razor Trinity had separated him from most of the fighting, but there was still work to do, and the Destiny took off with a flash.

—

The Legend Gundam spiraled effortlessly through a field of firepower from two desperate Slash ZAKU Warriors, both deprived of their Guul units and standing on the deck of the smoking _Monterrey_. Their ship had taken a few hits from the _Minerva_ already, but it was still moving and still had most of its armaments blazing—but that was easily solved.

The _Monterrey_ quaked as the Legend came crashing down onto its deck. Rau grinned and let loose a storm of beam blasts from his DRAGOONs, and the _Monterrey_'s two mobile suits and its beam guns vanished in a pair of plumes of fire.

From the flames, the Legend stalked forward towards the ship's bridge tower. Rau threw a switch on the cockpit console and put on his most sinister smirk as a disbelieving Argus appeared on his auxiliary screen.

"C-Commander Le Creuset...you...you've betrayed us too?" Fury flashed onto Argus's face, momentarily overshadowing the fear. "Even the White Knight of ZAFT—"

"I'm sorry, Argus," Rau laughed and shrugged, "but I can't let you go destroying the _Minerva_ right now."

"Why the hell not?" Argus roared. "Don't you understand what they _did to us?_"

Rau sniffed contemptuously. "_You_ did this to yourselves, Argus. Far be it from me to point out your folly to you, but Lord Djibril _is_ trying to exterminate us Coordinators. And more importantly," his wicked grin returned, "I've got plans, and you don't fit into them."

"What could be more important than protecting our people?" snarled Argus.

The Legend pointed its beam rifle straight at the _Monterrey_'s bridge tower. The color vanished from a horrified Argus's face.

"I don't expect you to understand," Rau said, "and I'd rather prefer you didn't. Goodbye, Argus."

The Legend fired and Argus vanished in a blaze, and Rau turned and vaulted the Legend back into the air as the smoking _Monterrey_ shuddered to a halt—just as the _Minerva_ finished it off with a volley from its Tristans.

_Now then, little Angel of Death, I believe you're learning a lesson somewhere around here..._

—

With a bloodcurdling scream from its pilot, the Twilight sliced down like a hawk and ripped the beam rifle from the yellow GuAIZ's hand. It immediately jetted backward, opening fire with the beam cannons on its backpack; the Twilight ducked aside and charged again, beam saber in hand.

"_Are you afraid of me yet?_"

Sparks flew and the sky lit up as the Twilight slammed its saber down onto the GuAIZ's own blade. The GuAIZ ignited a pair of blades on the end of its shield and swept down at the Twilight's waist, but caught only afterimages. Instead, up above, the Twilight came plummeting down and sliced off the GuAIZ's left arm and shield with a punishing downward hack, sending the severed limb sailing away. The GuAIZ backed away, staring momentarily at the molten end of its arm—before the Twilight was upon it again, beam sabers clashing.

"You think you can just come here and kill my friend?"

The GuAIZ reeled from a devastating knee to the abdomen, followed up by an earth-shattering kick to the chest. It opened fire with its beam cannons again as it pitched backward, only to catch more afterimages—and in an instant later, the Twilight was there to throw it backwards again with another saber strike.

"You think you can come here and _beg me for mercy?_"

Backing away, the GuAIZ deployed its railguns; the Twilight burst up into the GuAIZ's face and sliced their barrels off before it could fire.

"You think I'll let you get away with this?"

The GuAIZ furiously swung its saber towards the Twilight's cockpit; Emily effortlessly blocked it with a downward hack, knocking the GuAIZ's blade aside.

"_I'll tear you apart!_"

The terrified life inside the GuAIZ's cockpit vanished as the Twilight rammed its left hand clear through the GuAIZ's chest and out its back. The yellow mobile suit sputtered smoke and sparks, until its monoeye faded away. The Twilight yanked its arm out of the GuAIZ's corpse and kicked it towards the sea, and watched impassively as the sky lit up and the world shook with a thundering explosion.

In the Twilight's cockpit, Emily turned her eyes towards her Gundam's hands, dripping with blood.

—

**ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

"He _what?_"

Wellington's furious voice boomed through the command room at the Carpentaria base, nearly bowling over the unfortunate Green-Shirt who broke the news. Wellington's face flashed red in fury as he whirled around to face the strategic map. Argus's armada had reported in three hours ago that they were returning to base—but now...

"The _Minerva's_ captain is requesting to speak with you about this," the Green-Shirt added. "She wasn't happy."

"Of course she wasn't!" Wellington groaned. "Good God, Argus, how could you have been so stupid...what's the damage like?"

"It looks like Argus's task force has been completely wiped out."

Wellington slammed a fist down onto the console in front him. That fool had taken a fifth of Carpentaria's fighting force—a fifth of the remains of ZAFT on the Earth's surface—with him in his stupid crusade. On the eve of their operation against Heaven's Base, Argus had taken a large bite out of his own forces—his own _allies_. How could he have been so foolish? How could _he_, Wellington, have been so foolish as to let Argus go?

"Completely wiped out...he took three of our old prototypes with him, too. Goddammit, Argus..."

"Sir, the _Minerva's_ captain told me that they're returning here immediately," the Green-Shirt went on. "But they have just destroyed a detachment of our own forces, and—"

"Get me Commander Holt," Wellington cut him off. "I want the _Minerva_ and its personnel under triple guard when they arrive."

The soldier saluted and Wellington dismissed him, and turned back towards the strategic map with fury bubbling in his veins.

_Fool, Argus...why didn't you understand? We _need_ them..._

—

**Pacific Ocean**

_What have I done?_

Emily ran the words through her head as she stared at her Gundam's bloody hands, floating above the ocean in the battle's wake. She knew full well where that blood had come from—and every pilot she crushed and mobile suit she tore down was still fresh in her memory. She knew what had prompted this orgy of bloodletting—Isaac, his death, his senseless death, his remains a cloud of debris somewhere in the skies over this miserable patch of ocean. She knew her own battle cries, drawing fear and blood from her enemies and running wild over both.

She squeezed her eyes shut, but that only made the voice grow louder.

_She will be our angel of death._

"No!" she cried. "I won't! I...I'll be my own person!"

The words sounded hollow and pitiful before they had even left her mouth, and in the darkness she saw her father, grinning with pride—not at his daughter, but at his own accomplishment, achieved using his daughter.

_She will be our angel of death_.

"I'm not!" She shook her head. "I'm...I'm something different!" Her eyes shot open and she saw her father's face glowering back at her. "I'm not yours! I'm won't be yours!"

The blood on the Twilight's hands mocked her. If she wasn't her father's weapon, then whose was she? There was no denying it; she knew what she'd said in the heat of battle, and the thoughts to which those words were attached put fear and disgust in her heart.

"I won't be your angel of death!" she cried. "I'm not going to use my power for that!"

The Twilight's bloody hands said otherwise. If she wasn't using her power for her father's selfish purposes, then what was the rampage she had just concluded?

Emily clenched her fists around the controls, focusing on the feel of the plastic casing in her hands. She had to hold on, she told herself, hold on to something other than these memories and feelings and that voice that would _not shut up_.

_She will be our angel of death_.

"_Stop it!"_

Her father's laugh filled her ears, and she saw herself again as a child, watching the orderlies carry her mother's body out of her bedroom. She saw the men in that cold room, all of them talking about her, her father looming over her. And worst of all, instead of her father, she heard her mother.

_The best thing you can do is keep being my little angel_.

Emily squeezed her eyes shut as the tears began to flow.

"What _am _I?" She choked back a sob. "Did _I_ kill you, mom?"

No answer came. Emily cracked open her eyes and looked back up at the Twilight's blood-soaked hands. That was all her doing. The soldiers she'd killed ever since that fateful day at Heaven's Base—that was her doing. Kyali's death—that was her doing, for being so careless. Aza, Isaac—they had both died protecting her. Her own mother—that was her doing, for being the reason Gerhardt brought her into existence.

_She will be our angel of death_.

Emily's eyes flashed in fury. "_Shut up!_" she screamed. "I won't! I...I'll take this name and make it _my own!_"

Even as her blood boiled, she heard the voice merely laugh.

_She will be our angel of death_.

—

To be continued...


	47. Phase 47: A Time for Peace

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 47 - A Time for Peace

—

**April 3rd, CE 77 - Battleship **_**Minerva**_**, Pacific Ocean**

"I certainly hope you've got a better handle on your troops this time, commandant," Meyrin Hawke said with no effort to disguise the venom in her voice. The _Minerva_ cruised back to Carpentaria with the ruins of Argus's armada behind it, and Wellington, his nervous face on the auxiliary screen, was trying—and, in Meyrin's opinion, failing—to account for Argus's little stunt. "I'm of a mind not to return to Carpentaria at all."

"I understand, Captain Hawke," Wellington said, "and I completely sympathize. It's absolutely unacceptable what Commander Argus did. It won't happen again."

Standing by the captain's chair, Abbey made even less effort to hide her disgust. "It had better not."

"Commander Holt will have your men under triple guard," explained Wellington, shifting nervously in his chair. "Security will be even tighter here than when you were last here. We will tolerate no further such incidents. But, captain..." He hesitated, and Meyrin felt her level of annoyance tick slightly higher. "You must understand the position I'm in, and I'm going to need your cooperation. And, well, Argus did take a large fraction of our combat force with him—"

"He tried to _destroy my ship_, commandant," Meyrin shot back. The words rang in her ears and she almost stopped in surprise, but quashed the feeling as quickly as it emerged. She could deal with that later. "He tried to _kill us_. Exactly what the hell am I supposed to do about people who are supposed to be on _my_ side trying to _kill me?_"

Roxy snickered at the comm console and disregarded Abbey's glare as Wellington faltered. "I understand, and I apologize for suggesting otherwise, but you _did_ just destroy a major ZAFT task force. There are going to be hard feelings, and there's nothing I can do about that."

Meyrin fixed the commandant with a cold glare. So what if he was taller than she was? "Are you saying you can't control your own troops?"

"No, captain, I'm saying that it would be best if your personnel exercise caution while on the base."

Meyrin closed her eyes for a moment. "We'll discuss this more when we get back to Carpentaria, commandant. _Minerva_ out."

The line obligingly went dark, just in time for Abbey to start hurling epithets at the screen, and Meyrin sat back with a sigh.

My_ ship?_

—

The external observation deck's airlock swung open with a hiss, and Viveka stepped out into the cool air of dusk. Immediately she found Emily at the far end, brooding at the railing and staring into the _Minerva's_ wake.

"So," she said loudly, marching up next to her sister and clapping her natural hand down on Emily's shoulder, "wanna tell me what the hell happened out there?"

Emily glanced up at her sister, and Viveka immediately regretted asking. "Isaac was killed."

Viveka pulled Emily closer and hugged her. "Oh, Em, I'm sorry. I know you kinda liked him." She paused awkwardly, noting Emily's silence. "Err, platonically, of course—"

"He was trying to protect me," Emily went on, "and his commander shot him down." She looked up towards the horizon, beyond which the remains of Argus's troops were rotting and rusting beneath the waves. "I tortured him to death and went berserk on the rest of his troops."

At that, Viveka felt her blood freeze. "You what?"

"I ripped them apart. I purposefully altered my fighting style to be as brutal as possible. You saw the Twilight when I brought it back. It was covered in blood. Blood, Viveka, blood from a _mobile suit battle_. Isn't that crazy?"

"I...I thought _you_ had gone crazy," Viveka stammered. "Em, why did you—"

"I know it was wrong. I know there was no reason to be so cruel. But I did it anyway." She shook her head. "And the strangest thing is that I don't know why I went from anger to cruelty. It's not like I haven't done that before. I killed Kyali's commander that way."

Viveka hugged her sister closer. "It's okay, Em, really. He deserved it. They deserved it."

Emily closed her eyes. "You remember what I was saying? About fearing the angel of death?" She clenched her fists around the railing. "_That's_ what's bugging me. Because I don't _want_ to be the 'angel of death,' and I think I'm starting to accept it anyway. And that means I'd have to be what Father wanted me to be. And..."

"I know, I know. But Em, you're _not_ what he wanted. He wanted you to be _his_ little pawn. You're your own person."

Silence washed over them both as Emily turned the words over in her mind. If she took her father's name for her and made it her own, what did that mean she had to become? If she wasn't going to be her father's killing machine, what would she be on her own?

—

The first thing the mechanics had done once the Twilight docked was wash the blood and viscera off its hands. That had been a grisly job that had cost several mechanics the contents of their stomachs—especially after finding still-recognizable human remains in the joints of the fingers once the hands were disassembled to more thoroughly clean them. Standing on the gantry as the mechanics reassembled the mobile suit's right hand, Shinn was rather glad he hadn't been around to witness that.

However, standing with Athrun in front of the Twilight, he had to wonder who really had the better job here. The mechanics just had to fix the Gundam. Shinn and Athrun had to figure out what the hell Emily _did_ with it.

"Copland told us that this might happen," Athrun said, eyes fixed on the Twilight's glowering face. "That with the way she's been trained and the way her mind has been altered, she would be unstable."

"Great," sighed Shinn. "Just what we need. Another crazy Newtype."

"She was angry at Karelia, she was berserk at Volgograd, she was focused at Novorossiysk, and she was sadistic today. Totally unstable. It fits."

Shinn said nothing, staring up at the Twilight's dark eyes.

"I hope you're not blaming _yourself_ for this," Athrun went on, fixing Shinn with a serious look. "You of all people should know that this is better than what the Alliance had in store for her."

"It's not like it's _that_ much better."

Athrun glanced to the side, towards the ship's stern—where they both could feel Emily's flickering presence. "Is it? She's with people who care about her well-being. People who give her something to fight for. People who treat her like a person. She's even with her sister. That's better than what the Alliance would have given her, by far."

"And what about the future? What if this gets worse?"

"What _about_ the future?" Athrun turned back towards Shinn again. "Nobody said this is going to be easy. None of us even know what she _is_, let alone what's lurking in her mind that hasn't been brought out. She's an amazing pilot. She's got experience now. So she's prone to emotional instability; big deal, so are we. Don't forget what you did to the Freedom at Antarctica."

Shinn's blood boiled for a moment at the mention of his nemesis. "I didn't have unknown memories forcing their way back into my consciousness." He heaved a sigh. "I know if I'd left her there in Reykjavik, she'd have something terrible ahead of her. It's just..." He shook his head. "At this rate I don't think I want to see what she can really do."

—

Stella blinked in surprise as the crew lounge door hissed open and a cavalcade of curses blasted out. At the eye of the storm sat Sting and Auel, a _Battleship_ set between them. They usually got like this over their games, Stella remembered. She had no idea why; how come they couldn't just be friends?

Auel flung a handful of tiny plastic ships into Sting's face, and Stella decided that now was the time to get the soda she came for and make her escape.

Strolling back to the ship with carbonated goodness in hand, she couldn't help but wonder why everyone was never happy around here. Athrun always seemed sad, and only a couple days ago had he started to be a little _less_ sad. And with Athrun, a little less sad was still pretty sad. Abes had explained to her one day that all his friends were gone. But that made no sense, because all his friends were still here, on the _Minerva_. Maybe Athrun had more friends somewhere else? Who knew? Maybe he didn't, and that was why he was so sad. Having no friends was no fun.

Not everyone on the ship was sad. Viveka seemed to be okay, and Stella didn't really know her yet, but she never seemed to be sad and for that, Stella was happy. And Rau always seemed to be happy, or at least okay. Stella wasn't worried about him.

Emily was sort of happy _and_ sad. That made no sense at all to Stella.

Of course, Shinn was always somewhere between sad or mad. She had an idea as to why; she knew that they used to have friends, but those friends had been killed—which must have been what happened to Athrun's friends—and Shinn was still sad about that. She understood, really. She was still a little sad about it herself.

But what was the point of being sad forever? Life was no fun when you were constantly sad, and there were all sorts of amazing things to see. Sad people never saw how beautiful the sea was. Even when she was sad, Stella knew that if she could look out at the sea and remember how beautiful it was, she couldn't stay sad forever. Bad things happened but there were still good things to see.

Stella wondered if Shinn knew that. Maybe if he looked at the sea more often, she'd be happier too.

—

"I understand that you knew one of the pilots who died in that battle," Rau's voice said, snapping Emily out of her reverie on the external observation deck. Night had fallen by now, and only now did she realize how tired she was and how badly she wanted to sleep—and she had been so lost in her own thoughts that she had never noticed Rau's arrival. "My condolences."

Emily turned back towards the horizon, dim and dark in the night. "Thanks."

Rau was silent a moment. "Do you remember what I said yesterday, about there being something wrong with the world?"

"...yes."

"Do you understand now?" He paused, waiting for her reaction. "This is a twisted and distorted world. It creates people to satisfy its own selfish desires. It destroys them on cruel and foolish whims."

"That's what _I_ did," Emily interrupted, head in her hands.

"So I saw," Rau said, "but you shouldn't feel bad about that. It's power, after all."

"I never wanted this."

"Of course not. But you have it," he grinned, "and you want to use it. To make it your own. And you want this world to change, don't you?"

Emily glanced back up at him. "I guess."

Rau put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If you want the world to change, you have to take that power and make it your own. Impose your own will on it. Once you have that control, you can turn your power upon the world and impose your will on _that_, just as you mastered yourself." He looked down at her. "Can you do that?"

"I guess."

Rau grinned. "We'll see."

—

**April 4th, CE 77 - Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan, Republic of East Asia**

Lord Djibril stared out the window of his spacious office at Yokosuka, gazing down at the humming port below him. The fleet would be leaving soon, where they would sweep down upon the pathetic little lambs in Carpentaria and tear them to bits. Everything was falling into place, and as long as the soldiers didn't screw this up, the Resistance would be swept away and Djibril could turn his armies towards their more pressing foe.

He looked up at the sky. Yes, ZAFT was on the move. In a matter of days they would be back in the Earth Sphere. If this battle at Carpentaria went as planned, the Alliance could erase the Resistance on Earth, and its space fleet was insignificant compared to the power of the Earth Alliance Space Force. They would be ants beneath the feet of dueling titans. But ZAFT was entirely different. He cursed his luck that the Battle of Solomon's Sword had not exterminated more of those pests, and that his almighty Requiem had by some cruel fortune failed to destroy a handful of the PLANTs. It was enough from which to rebuild an army—and they had done even more than that, if Vargas's messages were to be believed.

He glanced over his shoulder as he heard the intercom buzz. "Sir, Field Marshal Markav has arrived, as requested."

"Send her in."

Djibril turned back towards the window, glowering up at the sky. To have such a formidable foe escape its deathblow at Solomon's Sword was bad enough. To have such foolish minions was even worse. If ZAFT's return was not imminent he would have replaced Markav already, but such a move would have resulted in too much confusion and too many problems on the eve of a major war. Another stroke of bad luck.

"The three Destroy units have been arrived and readied," Markav reported with a salute that Djibril disdainfully returned. "As per your request, they have been serviced and loaded in the utmost secrecy. The Resistance does not appear to know about them. They will be a complete surprise."

At that, Djibril smiled. At least this battle was shaping up to be the stuff of legend. They would remember it for all time, a devastating blast from the heavens themselves, followed up by three invincible gods of war. So what if the _Minerva_ and its vaunted Gundams saw frequent success against the Destroys? They would be powerless either way, and Djibril would relish it.

"The ZAFT fleet is days away from the Earth Sphere by now," he said. "I don't know what they're planning, and our intelligence is unusually sparse concerning their forces and intentions. We will let them make the first move. I trust the Phantom Pain has made all the necessary arrangements?"

"Of course, sir," answered Markav, "but much of our strength is still tied up in _Typhoon_."

"All the more reason to get this over with," Djibril replied. "Before _they_ get here too."

—

The entire Yokosuka installation rattled, and on the bridge of the _Charlemagne_ Danilov glanced towards one of the naval base's massive covered dry-docks. He knew what was going on inside, behind the heavy steel doors and concrete walls. They were loading a Destroy Gundam onto one of the ships. Iota 1, Omicron 1, and Upsilon 1 had the bloody task of exploiting the holes that the Requiem would surely make in the enemy line—and making some holes of their own. That, after all, was what they did best.

The _Charlemagne_ would get no support during this battle. That was fine; it would be a brutal struggle either way. Field Marshal Markav would probably leave early on to go attend to whatever it was she wanted personally; that was just as well, because the last thing Danilov needed was a superior ordering him to commit war crimes.

He imagined the _Minerva_, pitted against him with only the sky between them, the _Minerva's_ speed and durability up against the _Charlemagne_'s raw firepower. But this time there was a tantalizing possibility beyond the winged battleship. Djibril had made fairly plain his intention to replace Markav as the Phantom Pain's commander—to replace her with Danilov, even. What if he destroyed the _Minerva_ this time around? He would undoubtedly cement his name as a superb officer, and do what Markav herself had not done. He would replace her. He would assume control of the Phantom Pain—and then he could _correct_ it.

Unbidden, the memory of Sven Cal Bayan returned. Danilov quashed that thought before it could grow. Even if he were in charge of the Phantom Pain, he could not change it. It was as cruel and ruthless as it was by design. Lord Djibril _needed_ an army of brutal soldiers who would do whatever evil deeds he asked of them. His purposes were dark enough to require soldiers with darkness and evil to match, and if Danilov were their commanding officer, he would have to join them in the depths of darkness himself.

But the _Minerva_ was still there. His swift and skillful foe still needed to be taught a lesson, and, as he pushed the thoughts of field marshals and politics and genocide from his mind, at least he could look forward to _that_.

—

"Your instructions are clear," said Sven Cal Bayan, standing in the _Charlemagne_'s briefing room with Grey and Merau before him, ramrod straight. "You are to distract and occupy the Twilight for as long as possible, until greater force can be applied to destroy it. If Lieutenant du Prey or I or a member of my team arrives in the battle, you will follow their instructions; otherwise, your objective remains the Twilight. Damage or destroy it if you can. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" they chorused.

Sven dismissed them with a salute and watched them go. He hated to rely on pilots who, instead of skill, seemed to have an obscene degree of _luck_ instead. Luck was unquantifiable and uncontrollable; it was militarily useless, and yet for the _Charlemagne_'s thinning herd of mobile suit pilots, it was their greatest asset. Maybe that would help them take down the Twilight; if not, maybe it would at least let them tie the damn thing up long enough for something _else_ to take it down. If Irene was right, the pilot was increasingly mentally unstable. Maybe _that_ would provide Ensign Saiba and Ensign Seraux with the luck they needed.

_Sending more children to their deaths?_ that annoying child's voice piped up. _With not a hint of shame or remorse? You _have_ fallen far._

_It is necessary,_ Sven shot back, entirely too annoyed to be dealing with this damned thing again. The Alliance's training had been thorough, but it had not been thorough enough if this little bastard was still traipsing around his subconscious.

_Everything is necessary with you. Mass murder is necessary. Torture is necessary. Deceit and treachery are necessary. What was all the point of all this, again? Y'know, one of these days they're going to send you to space and tell you to blow up the stars or something. You wanna do that? 'cuz you know I'm still here_.

Sven scowled. If this little bastard was his conscience, it sure had no shame in pushing his buttons.

_I have left that life behind. I will follow my orders and do my job, or I will die. I will do whatever I must to survive._

_Yeah, right,_ laughed the child. _If you really wanted to do that, you would've gotten rid of me years ago._

Sven said nothing. He hated it when that little bastard was right.

—

"Isn't it wonderful?" cackled Monique du Prey as she eagerly led Shams and Mudie down the gantry towards her slumbering Morrigan Gundam. "It's the finest mobile suit design ever produced by the Eurasian Federation and it's _all mine!_"

"Great," Shams deadpanned, "now can we go?"

"It's fine-tuned to every specification of our mutual friend Unit Zero-One," Monique continued, "and what's more, it's got current advancements like beam shields! Don't you just love it? Don't you wish _you_ had one?"

Mudie shot her a glare. "What do you want with us anyway?"

Monique whipped around with a wild-eyed grin. "Partly, I just want to gloat over you guys with the old Actaeon units," she said with a shrug, "but mostly it's because I have a request." Her grin disappeared and she put a finger to Shams' lips before he could protest. "I need you guys to leave the Twilight to me. Sound good?"

Shams narrowed his eyes. "We'll do whatever our mission requires," he shot back. "Whether or not—"

"Oh, come on, don't get all hard-ass on me here," Monique interrupted. "I have a specific plan to bring down our little Angel of Death, and although you're both a couple of _really nice_ people I'd really hate for you two to accidentally screw something up, know what I'm saying?" She paused, a feral grin flashing over her lips. "Besides, I have unfinished business with her from Hormuz."

Risking a glance at a thoroughly annoyed Mudie, Shams heaved a sigh. "Do whatever. I don't care."

"Oh, don't look so put out!" cackled Monique, clapping a hand down on Shams' shoulder. "I promise, it will be one hell of a show."

—

**ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

Shinn Asuka watched from the _Minerva's_ internal observation deck as the winged warship slid into the dock at Carpentaria. Technically this place was supposed to be home, but all the guards everywhere and the atmosphere of tension and anger assaulting his Newtype senses put the lie to that sentiment almost as soon as the gates clanged shut.

He would not disembark. He was already hated here anyway; why tempt fate? He glanced up as the door slid open and Emily stepped onto the deck.

"There you are," she said with a start. "I was going to get off. Do you wanna come with me?"

Shinn cracked a smirk. "That probably wouldn't be wise. I got jumped right off the boat last time. You should probably stay here too."

Emily glanced around the deck, and Shinn's smirk faded as he picked up a feeling of tight anxiety from his fellow pilot. "If I stay here any longer I'll go crazy," she said. "I'll be okay. Nobody recognizes me by sight and I can just pass myself off as a random soldier or something."

"If you say so," answered Shinn with an eyebrow raised skeptically. "Be careful."

He watched her leave, pondering what could have prompted that feeling. He knew she had been ruthless in battle with Argus's troops, and Viveka had told him that Emily was struggling to figure out why she had so sadistically destroyed Argus's men. The Twilight Gundam itself certainly bore the marks of that bloodbath; Abes had been stunned that the Twilight's arms had stood up to the force of repeatedly plunging in and out of other mobile suits' chests. And Athrun had been right to point out that, for as vicious as she had seemed, it was hardly unexpected. Her training from the Alliance had destabilized her mind, and every time it returned to her she acted a different sort of crazy.

Shinn thought back to what she had said as the _Minerva_ had left Fortress Aqrah. She had said that she wanted to take her father's name for her and make it her own. But according to Viveka, that was the problem. Maybe there was some other piece of the puzzle of Emily's past that Shinn did not yet know.

Of course, Athrun was also right that there was no way he could have possibly known about any of this when he encountered her in Reykjavik. And the Alliance would surely have treated her the way it had treated Stella—as a pawn, a tool, a component to be discarded when its utility ran out. That would not happen on the _Minerva_. This ship was crewed by people who had, at one point or another, been treated as mere pieces of larger machines and had rebelled against the clockmakers that controlled them. But none of that stopped the gnawing guilt that this was still Shinn's fault.

And, as he glanced over towards Carpentaria and the hatred seething there, he had created enough problems already.

—

"I am glad to see that you were unscathed by Commander Argus's attack," Chiao Xu said with a gracious smile, standing on the gantry that stretched out from Carpentaria's dock to the _Minerva's_ personnel boarding hatch. Meyrin shook his offered hand and forced a smile of her own.

"Commandant Wellington has assured me that it won't happen again."

"I should hope so," scoffed Chiao Xu. "The ZAFT remnant contains some of our most professional and skilled soldiers. We can't afford to lose them to self-serving crusades against allies." He waved a hand out the bridge windows. "I'm afraid we don't have much time for repairs, though. The operation's timetable has been pushed up. We're leaving in two days."

Meyrin blinked in surprise. "Wha—why the change?"

At Chiao Xu's side, Joseph Copland's expression darkened. "We've got actionable intelligence that the bulk of the Alliance's fleet at Heaven's Base has departed. We don't know what they're doing, but the opportunity is too good to pass up. We have to attack."

"We also want to mount this attack before these internal divisions do anymore damage to our forces," Chiao Xu added. "The longer this war goes on, the more time there is for our entire coalition to collapse."

"And," Copland finished, "quite frankly, we're already on the brink."

Meyrin blanched at the thought. "Is it really that bad here?"

Although Copland's crestfallen expression indicated that it was, Chiao Xu tapped his cane on the deck with finality. "We will not have to worry about that because in two days our fleet is setting out," he said, "and right now everyone is too busy with the final preparations to do anything rash."

"Captain Hawke," Copland interrupted, shooting a look at Chiao Xu, "I'll be honest. Destroying Argus's task force has whipped up a frenzy here. Most of the ZAFT remnant troops are furious with you, and that's leaving out the ones that already hated you and your crew."

"But that's not going to matter in two days' time," Chiao Xu put in, answering Copland's look with one of his own.

"Chiao Xu, we have to be realistic—"

"I apologize," Meyrin interrupted, forcefully enough to silence the leader of the Resistance and the former President of the Atlantic Federation, "for the damage that our actions have caused. But I'm not going to apologize for defending ourselves against what we thought was an ally."

Copland promptly changed the subject, and as Meyrin listened with half an ear, she quietly regarded Chiao Xu. They called him the Seer, but anymore, that just seemed ironic.

—

A sigh curling from his lips, Athrun Zala slumped down into a chair in the _Minerva's_ crew lounge and stared down ruefully at his cup of lousy instant coffee. He could cook, but he had never inherited Andy's masterful touch and giant brewing apparatus. Instead, fate had replaced the Desert Tiger's ingenious concoctions with mere Folgers crystals, and Athrun could most certainly tell the difference.

"Goddammit," Viveka's voice groaned over his shoulder, and he shot a surprised look up at her as she stared back down at him, hands on her hips. "I go looking for someone who _isn't_ all mopey today and I find you staring angrily at your coffee."

"Sorry." He swirled the contents of the Styrofoam cup for a moment. "On the _Megami_ there was a guy who was pretty much a god at coffee brewing and I'm sort of wishing I had inherited his skills right now."

Viveka turned up her nose. "Well, okay, good point," she said, "but seriously, between Shinn and my sister this place is starting to drown in angst. Knock it off, would ya?"

"Right, right," Athrun said and gulped down his coffee with resignation. "How is Emily doing anyway?"

"Mopey. She took off into the base a little while ago."

Athrun looked up sharply. "She what—? Viveka, that's insane! She has no idea—"

"Well, Shinn seems to think she'll be okay."

At that, Athrun sat back down with a sigh. "I guess," he agreed, "as long as she has the good sense to keep a low profile."

Viveka rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "I don't understand what's gotten into her. It's like she's a different person now."

Athrun closed his eyes, reaching out and finding Emily's flickering pressure somewhere among the multitudes of Carpentaria.

—

"That's right," cooed Roxy with a wolfish grin, "nice little sips."

Across the table in the _Minerva's_ crew lounge, Auel was nervously and slowly draining a paper cup partly filled with what he had called "Roxy's evil Russian fire water." At his side, Sting smirked as the blue-haired Extended coughed a bit, but to his credit Auel finished the glass and plunked it back onto the table.

"_There_," he snapped. "Pay up."

"Not so fast," scoffed Roxy. "That's a freaking paper bathroom cup. You aren't getting out of this _that_ easy." She plucked the cup from his hand and filled it up again. "I believe our wager was a _fifth_ of vodka, and you haven't even had, like, a tenth of it."

"Fucking hell, I've already had three of those!"

"Yeah, five more to go. Or I could always give them to Stella." Roxy glanced down the table. "Interested?"

At the end of the table, Stella regarded the offered cup with a look of mild fear. "Stella doesn't like that stuff."

"Roxy, come on, you remember the _last_ time you did that, don't you?" Sting groaned.

"I know, it was hilarious! Remember the look on Shinn's face?"

Stella glanced nervously between Roxy and Sting. "It made Stella sick," she protested.

"Yeah, you might have found it funny," added Sting, "but guess who cleaned it up?"

"Well," Roxy said with a melodramatic sigh, "since Auel here is too much of a pussy to finish it—"

"Give me that," Auel snapped, seized the cup from her hands, and gulped down the contents—only to cough and sputter as the alcohol burned all the way down. Roxy cackled with delight.

"Didn't you learn?" she giggled. "Nice and slow."

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Yokosuka Naval Station, Japan, Republic of East Asia**

In spite of himself, Ivan Danilov felt a twinge of pride as he stood on the bridge of the _Charlemagne_ and watched the scene before him. The great 6th Combined Surface Fleet was edging out of port. The time had come.

To the ship's starboard, the mighty _Chrysalis_ took the lead, and Grand Admiral MacIntyre's lined face appeared on the auxiliary monitor. "All ships accounted for and in formation," he said, and his gravelly voice set Danilov's blood on edge. He cast a glance down at the large rectangular device strapped to the _Charlemagne_'s hull. It was the finishing touch on this massive assemblage of manpower and firepower, one of the hundreds of Mirage Colloid emitters that would hide the fleet as it traveled south, giving the Alliance one more advantage in the coming battle. Surely the Resistance's spies had seen ships coming and going from Yokosuka with unusually increased frequency; but, with the bulk of the fleet hidden over the horizon and the waters tightly patrolled, there was simply no way they could know.

"Our destination is Carpentaria," MacIntyre said, and Danilov could see that even the old admiral's blood was stirred up by the thought of the impending battle. "The Resistance has fought this war on our doorsteps for three years. It's time we bring it to theirs." Determination flashed across his face. "All ships, activate Mirage Colloid units!"

The emitters sprang to life, and as the curtain of particles fell, Danilov smiled. It was time for war.

—

To be continued...


	48. Phase 48: A Time for War

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 48 - A Time for War

—

**April 5th, CE 77 - ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

Athrun and Meyrin walked respectfully by the side of Joseph Copland as he strode along the gantries overlooking the _Minerva_ in Carpentaria's dock. He was lined and old and the years had taken their toll on him, but he still possessed the dignified step of a statesman.

"The space booster is stored in Woomera, in South Australia," he explained. "It's probably the worst place for you to launch from, but the use of the _Minerva's_ positron cannon should make it possible." He glanced over at Meyrin. "As you can probably guess, we want you in space after the battle at Heaven's Base. We have plans for following up on the Heaven's Base assault with attacks on Alliance installations on the Moon. The Vedlow Fleet has been drawing ships away from Althea Crater, one by one, for the better part of a year. The time is ripe for an attack."

Meyrin cast a surprised glance at Athrun. "Althea?"

"To target the Alliance's deepest, darkest secrets."

Athrun and Meyrin shared a look. The Resistance's space forces were certainly more competent overall than its Earthbound forces, but that did not necessarily mean as complicated and sweeping an operation as taking Althea Crater could be pulled off without a hitch. The Resistance in space was still fractious and uncooperative.

"Woomera is protected by the _Uhlenbeck_," Copland continued. "They aren't ZAFT remnant, if that helps, and their commander has assured me that the booster is in perfect working order. You'll have to get back to Australia from Iceland for it, but in the wake of the Heaven's Base battle that should not be exceptionally difficult."

"As long as we win," Athrun added.

Copland's visage darkened. "Yes," he agreed, "as long as we win."

—

The wind caught the still-proud flag of ZAFT flying from the top of the Carpentaria dock, and Auel regarded it with mild disdain. That was the flag and the name for which Argus's troops had tried to kill him, and everyone else on the _Minerva_.

It had been the flag of his enemy as an Extended, but he had never felt all that much enmity towards them. He figured he wasn't all that different from them, really, since he too had been biologically altered to produce a human that was, so to speak, _better_. They were his enemy, he killed them, and he had no remorse for it, but neither did he feel any particular hatred for them. They were just the enemy. They were there to be killed. If he screwed up badly enough, they would kill him—and that hadn't happened yet.

But now he had a particular dislike of them. It didn't help that this time they were supposed to be on his side, but the idea of the friend of one's friend being one's own friend was lost on the Resistance, and after three years of watching the best laid plans go up in smoke because someone was stupid and petty, that came as no particular surprise to Auel Neider. People were stupid anyway.

What annoyed him the most, he supposed, was that he knew in his bones that without the _Minerva_, without the Gundams, without him, the ZAFT remnant and the Resistance would be nothing. It was the _Minerva_ that had drawn the Alliance's attention so much as to commit a whole fleet to its destruction at Hormuz. It was the _Minerva_ that did the most visible damage and served as the symbol of the Resistance. If ZAFT's bitter, stupid veterans didn't like that, well, tough. This was a war and the bitter, stupid veterans' bitterness and stupidity had to take a back seat.

He knew as well that it was silly to think of the ZAFT remnant as an enemy. Their commander was still on the _Minerva_'s side, and as long as their commander still controlled his troops, they would all just have to get along.

But they were stupid. People were stupid, and always did the stupidest thing, and that meant Auel had to wait for them to do it.

—

"It's okay, Stella," Shinn explained with a weary smile as he watched Stella meticulously clean out her fish's tank. "We're gonna be fine. We always are."

Stella stared at the algae-encrusted paper towel for a moment. "But everyone's always sad."

Slumped on Stella's bed with a glass of rum in hand, Roxy offered a shrug. "He has a point. For all the drama you guys get into you eventually pretty much get over it." She nodded over her shoulder. "Athrun and the Bionic Woman did."

"I know." Shinn glanced tiredly between them. "I'll probably feel better after Heaven's Base. Meyrin said something about Althea Crater, though, so that might be...dramatic."

"Althea Crater? The hell we going there for?"

Shinn looked at Stella for a moment, and felt relieved to see her absorbed in changing the filter. "Copland says the Alliance will be sorely off-balance after Heaven's Base, assuming we win. Not a chance that they'll see it coming, and if we do take Althea we would be in control of some of the Alliance's dirtiest of dirty little secrets." He shrugged. "I guess it's to give us a better negotiating position to end the war."

Roxy raised her eyebrows. "They wanna end the war by _talking?_ To the guys who wanna _exterminate all Coordinators?_"

"It's better than what we have been doing, I guess."

"Shinn," Roxy said, sitting up, "this is ridiculous, really. You can't just _talk_ to Blue fucking Cosmos. They don't believe in talk. You're lucky if it ever even occurs to them to ask questions when they're shooting."

"Do we have a choice?"

"Hell yes. Keep fighting. Talking is fine, for people who wanna talk, but not everyone wants to talk, and the only way to deal with _them_ is to get rid of 'em."

Shinn closed his eyes and thought. She was right, of course, and he was under no illusions that anyone could talk the Alliance into submission. He glanced up at Stella, and remembered why.

—

Emily stared into the sea and understood why Stella always found it so calming. The breeze lilted around her and seemed to wash away anxiety itself, if only for a moment—and that moment was good enough until the next one.

War was war, and it was silly to get so worked up over one death in it. Millions of people had died in the wars of this bloodstained decade of the Cosmic Era, and undoubtedly most of them had died for as foolish a reason as had Isaac. In fact, she herself had probably killed hundreds, if not thousands, by now. What was she so upset about—

She felt her blood freeze as her train of thought came to a screeching halt. Something was out there, tugging at her senses, weighing on her mind. She turned her eyes to the north, where the sea disappeared into the sky at the hazy horizon. There was pressure out there, like the pressure she felt from people—but amplified, like a crowd. But how could that be? If there was a crowd of people out there, then the only explanation for it was—

Rau pulled up behind her in a jeep and leapt from the seat. "Emily, do you feel that?" He pointed towards the horizon.

"Yeah, but what is it?"

The masked man stepped up next to her and peered into the distance for a moment. "That is an Earth Alliance battle fleet. There is no question. Djibril has finally decided to make his move."

Emily's eyes went wide in disbelief, and she snapped her gaze back towards the horizon. "A fleet? But how? Wouldn't we have known?"

"Evidently not. There's only one place a fleet that big could plausibly be headed." He glanced over at Emily. "We should inform Wellington." Both of them rushed to the jeep, and Emily struggled to swallow the knot of fear rising up her throat.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_**, Arafura Sea, Pacific Ocean**

His blood was rushing through his veins now, and Ivan Danilov felt the fire of a soldier on the eve of battle burning in his gut. It was good to feel this way, better than the anxiety gnawing at him over Lord Djibril's portentous words. Ivan Danilov had not been bred for the halls of politics; he had been bred for the heat of battle.

He glanced around the _Charlemagne_'s bridge, at his able crew. They were veterans of the Alliance and the Phantom Pain; they had been the bridge and CIC crew of the _Mephistopheles_, before its untimely demise. Vera had served on a warship that saw action at Orb in the Junius War, and had survived the inferno to take command after the captain was killed. He knew they were competent—no, more than competent, they were the best the Phantom Pain had to offer.

And, as he turned his memory back towards the battles of the past, they deserved their credit. The _Minerva_ was a formidable foe and although the _Charlemagne_ could not yet say it had vanquished the winged warship, nor could Danilov say that the _Minerva_ had decisively defeated his own vessel. They had luck and a clever captain, but now came the ultimate test of the _Minerva's_ luck.

The Alliance fleet was approaching the mouth of the Gulf of Carpentaria. There was no escape for the Resistance. The Mirage Colloid had been deactivated by now as the microscopic prisms blew away in the wind, but it was too late to make a difference. Even if the Resistance's spotters caught sight of the approaching armada, they could not possibly get their fleet out in time—and just in case they tried, a third of the fleet was rounding the other side of New Guinea and approaching through the Torres Strait. Once the forces linked up and descended upon Carpentaria, the Resistance's fleet would have no choice but to fight and die in their home port, and the land forces would have no choice but to flee into the continent...with the Alliance's invasion force right on their heels.

It was going to end the Resistance as a creditable fighting force on Earth. Danilov could not see how this battle could do anything else. Chiao Xu had been a fool to concentrate so much strength here, knowing that no matter how strong his army became the Alliance would be still stronger. But foolishness in the enemy was a virtue, and Danilov was more than happy to take it.

The Resistance's fate was sealed, but the _Minerva_...that was the question that Danilov set before himself. Would they wriggle out of fate's grasp once again? Would they perish with their allies?

Danilov glowered at the horizon, beyond which lay Carpentaria and his once and future foe. Survivors or not, they would not be the victors.

—

Crayt Markav knelt in the _Charlemagne_'s master office, head bowed, lost in thought and prayer. She beseeched God for strength, because strength was what she needed. Strength was necessary to destroy Rau Le Creuset and Unit Zero-One, the precocious little girl that she feared was fast becoming Le Creuset's latest pet killing machine.

Yes, Le Creuset. Hatred filled her for the man who dared to play God in a world that may have turned its eyes from the Lord but still felt His wrath and justice. This world was full of sin and depravity. Its people toyed with God's creations and dared to make themselves over in their own image. The blasphemous Coordinators fancied themselves gods, and with their science made their own pitiful mockeries of the Lord's good works. They had to be defended—from Coordinators, from Naturals who would side with them, from Naturals too caught up in their own petty desires and sins to see what was truly going on. It was not chance or converging social forces that brought about this blood-soaked decade of the Cosmic Era; it was God.

Nobody understood that but Crayt Markav. It was God who destroyed Junius 7, God who brought forth the Cyclops System and GENESIS, God who rained fire on Orb, God who dropped Junius 7, God who spoke and smote through the blazing light of the Requiem. And now, with the fleets and armies of the Alliance crashing down upon the unsuspecting Resistance, it was God who made them all the tools of His vengeance. And only Crayt knew. Humanity could be so much better than this, but it had to be reminded—with fire and blood.

"_От имени отца, и Сына, и Святого Духа_," she whispered and crossed herself. "I will bring You glory."

—

"I trust you two have finished the simulator regimen already," Sven intoned with a menacing glare. Standing over the pool table with cues in hand, Shams and Mudie glanced up warily at him. "If you have time to screw around—"

"Give it a rest, Sven," Shams shot back, and returned his attention to the four ball perched near the side pocket. "I've almost got this..." He took his shot, and let loose a hurricane of epithets as the cue ball sailed wide and bounced off the rim of the table. "Oh, fuck me! Not again!"

"I don't know why you keep playing this game when you suck so hard at it," Mudie laughed.

"Shut up! I swear to God that shot should have gone in! This table is fucked up or something!"

Sven glowered at both his wingmen. "We are on the eve of a major operation. We do not have time to play your games."

"Sven," Shams said with a sigh, sparing his nominal commanding officer a tired glance, "I know human interaction and sociality is a mystery to you, but seriously, it's called stress relief. Try it."

"We don't have time for—"

"_Try it._" And with that, Shams returned to the game already in progress—and sent up another tornado of curses when Mudie sank the ten ball into the corner pocket.

Sven scowled at the two of them and wondered if he really did need to rely on them.

—

Intelligence was a wonderful thing sometimes, mused Grey Saiba as he watched the main screen in the crew lounge. The _Minerva_ had been attacked by some of its allies among the ZAFT remnants the other day, and Orb's governor-general had had the good sense to run several reconnaissance flights by the site of the battle. They had captured the footage now playing on the screen—of the Twilight Gundam in action, eviscerating mobile suits with the talons on its fingers and spattering its armor in blood. It was gruesome to watch, but it could have been worse, and Grey did not mind too much. After all, those guys were ZAFT—and they were so low that they would shoot at the backs of their own allies. They deserved it.

At his side, Merau shivered as the Twilight put its hand through a GINN's chest. "It's changed. She's gotten better."

"Well, just don't let her get close to you," Grey answered.

"Oh, yeah, easier said than done. Look at the way that machine moves. If she wants to get close to you, she will, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

Grey saw his enemy's face again from that horrible battle at Volgograd. Was he really supposed to accept being so powerless to stop her?

—

The Morrigan Gundam's cockpit was alive with hysterical laughter. Monique du Prey sat in the cockpit seat, watching on her mobile suit's main screen the intelligence footage of the Twilight in battle against its own allies. The precision and brutality were completely new for the Resistance's little angel. It was clear as day, and just as Crayt had predicted: poor little Emily was going nuts.

"This is gonna be _fun!_" Monique cackled. "Silly little girl, you shouldn't be playing war like this! You're gonna get hurt!"

It was something of a shame that Project Evolution had to end this way. Emily was a phenomenal pilot, and the footage of her eviscerating her ZAFT attackers was almost a work of art in Monique's eyes. And even if she was on the opposing side, Monique felt fire race through her veins at the thought of doing battle with her. The Resistance had few pilots worth a damn, but here was one for the ages.

Monique sat back and grinned, watching the Twilight crush its foes. Such cruelty and force in the way it drove its clawed hand through an enemy machine's cockpit, and drew it out splattered in blood and guts...it was almost beautiful. The supreme expression of what a mobile suit was supposed to do. It made her wish that the Morrigan had those claws and reinforced arms, to wash itself in the blood of its vanquished enemies too. Surely she lived up to that moniker of hers.

But she was still there, and the battle was yet to begin—and Monique looked forward to it with her blood running hot.

—

**ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

Shinn Asuka hated to be around panicking people, because panic had a way of rubbing off on a Newtype. And Oliver Wellington, right now, was panicking.

Of course, so was everyone else. The main control room of the Carpentaria base was a mess of people screaming orders and information at each other, and Wellington, despite his stony expression, seemed to be on the verge of joining them in the frenzy. Shinn cast an awkward glance at Athrun, and neither of them looked confidently towards the commandant.

"I don't know how we could have missed this," Wellington said at last, and Shinn thought he heard a waver in the commander's gravelly voice. "A whole fleet. It's huge. Gotta be well over two hundred ships. They're crossing Arafura and Torres and they have our entire fleet pinned down in the gulf now."

Athrun studied the strategic map for a moment. "It looks like we're getting our decisive battle one way or another," he said, and glanced over at Shinn. "What do you think?"

What Shinn really thought, of course, was that there was no way in hell the Resistance would win against numbers like that. But stranger things had happened in this war and the Carpentaria inhabitants did have the advantage of defending a position instead of attacking it.

Shinn closed his eyes and felt Emily's presence near the _Minerva_. Judging from the knot of fear he felt pulsing in her, he figured she knew what was coming. And judging by the spreading cloud of dread, the word was getting out.

—

Rau Le Creuset was a student of military strategy, and for that, he had to tip his hat to Lord Djibril and his generals.

The strategic map was spread before him in the Legend's cockpit. The Alliance fleet was steaming through the Arafura Sea and the Torres Strait, and already positioned to keep the Resistance's fleet bottled up in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It was huge, judging by the wave of pressure emanating from it. Spotters estimated it to be almost three hundred warships alone, plus well over a hundred troopships and support vessels, and an unknown number of submarines. And it had a great armada of aircraft on its heels, lifting off from airbases in New Guinea and Indonesia, converging unmistakably on the Carpentaria Base. It was the largest amphibious operation since Normandy, centuries ago, and such a fleet would not set out if it was not sure that it was going to end the war.

Not only that, but Rau had to give credit to Djibril and his officers for the genius of it all. The Resistance's plan had been to secretly move a massive fleet to the doorstep of the enemy's stronghold and pummel it into submission; and yet here was the Alliance, doing exactly that, and with the geography of the Gulf on their side as well. This would all be very gory.

That, however, was good, as Rau glanced in the direction of the Twilight—and the pilot inside. Emily was coming along nicely. The manifestation of her previous training had made her unstable, and unstable minds were open to manipulation and suggestion. There was still much work to do with her, of course; he had only just implanted in her head the idea that her power was something to be cultivated and used for more than just protecting the _Minerva_ from its foes. But Rau knew that his time was running out, and he needed a successor to carry on his work. The Cosmic Era could still be brought down. Emily would do it differently than he would, with brutality and raw power instead of quiet manipulations behind the curtains. But it would be done. She could do it. She had the power. She was the Angel of Death. Rau simply had to convince her to adopt that mantle, truly and completely, and the whole world would burn.

He idly thanked Gerhardt von Oldendorf. That ambitious Alliance bureaucrat had created the Angel of Death indeed, but he had made that fatal mistake of trying to control her. Nobody controlled the Angel of Death. Death took those whose time had come.

Emily just needed reminding, and with a wolfish grin, Rau knew he was closing in on victory.

—

At the flickering feeling of her sister standing in the Twilight's cockpit hatch, Emily glanced up and caught a reassuring smile from Viveka.

"So, guess our time off here is getting cut short," she started, and behind the smile, Emily could feel the nervousness. This battle would be unlike anything either of them had fought before.

"I guess."

Viveka leaned forward. "You're not still thinking about the last fight, are you?"

"How could I not?"

"Listen Em," Viveka started, reaching over the cockpit console to put a reassuring, if mechanical hand on her sister's shoulder, "you don't have to worry about it. They deserved it. And," she gestured at the Twilight's cockpit, "is this really what our father had in mind for you? Did he want you to be some superhero for the Alliance's enemies? Weren't you supposed to be his _soldier_, not his _opponent?_"

Emily glanced up tiredly. "If it were that easy I wouldn't have a problem with it." She shook her head. "It's...I'll deal with it. Don't worry about me."

"I'm going to anyways." Viveka pulled Emily closer for as much of a hug as she could manage over the Twilight's console. "Just don't forget that I'm still here for you, Em."

Emily smiled back and struggled to put her mind at peace.

—

"You ready for this?" asked Sting as he worked the controls of the ammo-loading arm, reloading the Chaos Gundam's CIWS for the battle ahead. He glanced over the gantry at Auel, and watched him merely shrug.

"It's another battle. Whatever."

"Yeah, but it's not the one I thought we were gonna be fighting." Sting glanced to the side, towards the north—where the Alliance's fleet was on approach. The announcement had cast a chill over all of Carpentaria, and now the base was alive with frenzied preparations for a battle that most people, deep down, knew was likely to end in defeat. That was the kind of battle Sting hated most—the kind that nobody expected to win. And Sting hated self-fulfilling prophecies...but it wasn't as though he could ignore the reality of the situation either.

"Oh, whatever, we'll kick their asses here or we'll do it at Heaven's Base," Auel said with a sigh. "What, you think we're gonna lose?"

"Of course we're gonna lose. We wound up destroying a fifth of the ZAFT remnant fleet, remember? And, well..." He shrugged. "Do _you_ think the Resistance can fight the Alliance in a straight battle and come out on top?"

"Then _we'll_ do it."

"We aren't _that_ awesome."

Auel sniffed contemptuously and looked away, and Sting turned his attention back to the Chaos. Perhaps what he really hated about all this, he mused, was the unmistakable stench of _failure_.

—

It would be merely another battle, Athrun Zala struggled to remind himself. He had lived through these sorts of confrontations before. He had survived Jachin Due; he had survived Solomon's Sword; he could survive this.

Striding down the gantry with his work on the Infinite Justice complete, he stopped by the Savior, and the frustration bubbling out of its cockpit. He could survive this battle; she, on the other hand...

"So," he began, poking his head through the cockpit opening and drawing Viveka's startled attention, "need help?"

Viveka blew out a sigh and hopped out of the Savior's cockpit. "Fine, _you_ fix it," she grumbled. "Get my settings file back for me."

Athrun cracked his knuckles and set to work. The OS of the Second Stage units had a nasty habit of resetting all of their custom settings after major software work, from things as mundane as speaker volume to things as critical as weapons control schemes, but they were easy enough to restore for a Coordinator who knew an obscene amount about software anyway. He glanced up at Viveka. "You're nervous."

Viveka shrugged. "I've never fought in a battle like this before," she said. "I don't know what to expect."

"'Everything to go wrong' is a good place to start."

"That's not encouraging." She glanced down awkwardly at him. "You don't look too concerned."

"I've done this before," replied Athrun.  
"Well, then don't you die on me out—"

"Don't say it," Athrun snapped, shooting her a glare. Viveka sputtered in surprise. "Yes, I've done this before. That also means on the eve of a giant battle, I've had friends promise me that they won't die the next day. Then they went and died the next day."

Viveka blinked at him. "Don't tell me you're being superstitious."

"I'm not. I'm telling you that I don't want to think about that anymore than I have to." He let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm just more stressed than I look."

Silence reigned in the Savior's cockpit for a moment, save for the tapping of keys, before Viveka bent over the mobile suit's console and captured Athrun's attention with her hand on his chin. "Okay," she said, "I'll put it like this. You _aren't_ going to die out there. And neither am I. However the battle goes." She smirked. "That better?"

"Getting there," Athrun answered, and smiled back.

—

The air rang and the hangar floor shook as the Gaia's shield snapped back into place on the mobile suit's slender arm. Shinn watched, arms crossed and leaning against the railing, as Stella worked on her machine as diligently as she did on her fish tank. He had no worries about _her_ in the coming battle, of course. She could always handle herself, and for as much as she wanted to be protected, he had to admit she didn't really need it.

"Are you gonna be okay, Stella?" he asked.

"Stella will be okay." She spared him a glance and a reassuring smile. "Shinn shouldn't worry."

Shinn smiled back as she returned to her work. He felt like a fool, as though he, the almighty Newtype, should have seen this coming. What use was this power to see the future when he couldn't use it when the future so desperately needed to be seen?

He turned his attention to the north. The Alliance fleet's disposition was yet unknown, and Wellington's men suspected that it was hiding itself with Mirage Colloid systems. But Mirage Colloid could not hide hundreds of thousands of people from the senses of a Newtype, and it was his, Athrun's, Emily's, and Rau's testimony that had convinced Wellington to throw the base on its highest possible alert. The Resistance's fleet was in the middle of its preparations to put to sea—now it would have to do battle in the Gulf of Carpentaria's confines. It was the Resistance's own plan, expertly turned against them—and still Shinn could not shake the feeling that there was something else to this scheme.

He glanced back towards Stella. He may not have been worried about her, but that did not keep him from worrying.

—

_She will be our angel of death._

The voice entered her head in her idle moments, and whenever it did, Emily shook her head and cleared away its stabbing reminder. But that made no difference; it would return again, when she was on the verge of forgetting, that her father had made her into what she was today—and the more she fought to be free of his shadow, the deeper she was sucked in.

The pilots had been instructed to sleep in their machines' cockpits tonight, in case the Alliance's attack began early. Emily stretched out with her feet atop the Twilight's half-folded-down console. Her loyal steed's cockpit seat made a singularly uncomfortable bed, but it would have to do—and if nothing else, the seat could be folded back.

_She will be our angel of death._

But she had to remember the words of her sister, of Shinn, of Rau—that she was not _their_ angel of death. She was her own, and always would be. She was still Emily von Oldendorf, not Unit Zero-One. She used the power the Alliance had given her against them, just as she would in the coming battle. She knew whose side was right, that even with all the horrors of the Resistance the Phantom Pain was still worse. The electricity searing her body and Kyali's death searing her soul, the horrible massacres in Murmansk and Volgograd and Novorossiysk...yes, there was no doubt who was the real evil in the world.

_She will be our angel of death_.

She would not. She told herself, she knew her friends knew that, now she just had to believe it herself.

Emily glanced around the Twilight's cockpit. At Hormuz she had fought that woman and her white mobile suit, that had supposedly been meant for her as the apex of her father's scheming and training. But now she had a different Gundam, one with shimmering wings of light and blinding speed, one that she could use to fight the Alliance's cruelty and tyranny. She had her own life, her own friends, her own power.

So why didn't she believe it?

_She will be our angel of death._

Emily closed her eyes and waited for sleep to take her.

—

**April 6th, CE 77 - ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

The sun had dawned bright and malevolent in the sky. The morning fog had vanished almost as quickly as it had come, and now on the horizon were the dozens of dark shapes that could only be the battle fleet of the Earth Alliance.

In the Twilight's cockpit, staring out the _Minerva's_ open portside catapult, Emily swallowed the knot of fear in her throat. She was surrounded by allies, both her friends from the _Minerva_ and Resistance troops who now stared a massive Alliance fleet in the face and could not possibly be so stupid as to turn their guns on each other. Not now, not with this looming before them.

The enemy fleet's commander had begun to broadcast a message ordering Carpentaria's surrender. Carpentaria had responded with a volley of artillery fire, splashing down into the water before the approaching warships. Now the enemy's mobile suits were rising from the decks and the warships were closing in.

Roxy's face appeared on the Twilight's auxiliary screen, and she flashed a cocky grin. "Twilight, you're all clear. Kick some ass out there, will ya?"

Emily smiled back and took the Twilight's controls.

_She will be our angel of death_.

"Twilight Gundam, Emily, _launching!_"

The catapult fired, the engines roared, and the Twilight Gundam roared into the sky.

—

To be continued...


	49. Phase 49: Little Girl Soldier

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 49 - Little Girl Soldier

—

**April 6th, C 77 - Earth Alliance flagship **_**Chrysalis**_**, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia**

Grand Admiral James MacIntyre watched with steely eyes as the fleet let loose its first devastating volley. Satisfyingly, four of the Resistance's warships crumpled and split apart under the wall of fire. If they kept up fire like that, then the rest of the plan wouldn't even be necessary.

Up ahead, the admiral could see the long hull and massive guns of a warship of World War II vintage. It was a little sad that such a ship would have to end up on the bottom, but if the Resistance wanted a fight, it was a fight they were going to get.

"Move Rodriguez and Carson's wings forward," he ordered. "Give them another broadside—no misses this time!"

The guns boomed again, and another ship snapped in two and slipped beneath the waves. MacIntyre steeled himself. The enemy fleet was moving forward.

—

The flickering and vanishing human lives had grown to such a figurative roar in the back of Shinn Asuka's consciousness that he put them aside as a long, continuous mass of death. He scanned the skies, filled as they were with smoke and fire. A squad of Windams rose up before him, beam rifles raised; Shinn darted over their heads with a cloud of afterimages and rained beam fire down on them, taking down two of their number before they could respond. The surviving two whirled around, opening fire again; the Destiny was gone, blurs and Mirage Colloid particles in its place, and with a crash Shinn tore down the third Windam with his left-hand palm cannon. The fourth Windam brought its rifle to bear—only for Shinn to chop it in half effortlessly with his anti-ship sword.

The familiar white lightning bolt cracked the air in front of him, and Shinn hurled the Destiny aside as a pulsing wave of beams shot by his field of vision. He snapped his attention skyward—

"You three again...!"

The Strike Noir, Blu Duel, and Verde Buster came crashing down upon the Destiny with a blaze of beam shots.

Sven fixed his eyes on the Destiny. "Shams, Mudie, Pattern D!"

The Verde Buster and Blu Duel darted apart laterally and leveled off their rifles, opening up with a withering barrage of beams. The Destiny darted skyward; the two Alliance mobile suits traced its path with their fire, ignoring the glimmering afterimages. Shinn cursed and moved to drop back down into close range—

Instead, the Strike Noir rushed into his face and pounded him with a succession of overhead sword hacks.

"What the—?" Shinn threw the Destiny back, as the Verde Buster and Blu Duel opened fire again and the Noir darted out of the way. "He flew through his wingmen's fire!"

"Drive him back up!" Sven barked; Shams and Mudie tightened their fire, forcing the Destiny higher into the air, where Sven struck again. Shinn snarled in frustration, ducked beneath one of the Noir's sword strokes, and slammed the Noir back with a powerful horizontal swing.

"Feeling the pressure yet, bitch?" Shams cried, and landed a railgun shell on the Destiny's chest, knocking it back as the Noir regained control.

Shinn ground his teeth as the Noir came streaking in for another round.

—

Sparks flew as the Infinite Justice Gundam ripped in half another Windam with its beam blade, and Athrun whirled around to face the survivors. Two were left of the squad—and then only one, as the Savior speared one of them on a plasma cannon volley. As the lone survivor jetted upward for the safety of distance, Athrun leveled off his rifle and picked it out of the sky.

"We're never gonna get anywhere like this," Viveka breathed, the Savior alighting next to the Justice. "They must have thousands more where they came from."

Athrun glanced up ahead, and the two Gundams darted apart as another salvo ripped through the air. He turned his eyes over his shoulder, finding a squad of BABIs from Carpentaria rising into the air behind him, returning the new Windam squad's fire.

"Commander Zala, we'll cover you," one of their pilots said. "Admiral Fukube is requesting mobile suit support. He's closing in to engage the enemy at point blank range."

"What?" Viveka cried. "That's suicide! At that range they'll get torn to shreds!"

"It's better than sitting on the beach, waiting to die," Athrun answered. "We're on our way." He whirled around and fired off another round of beam fire, forcing the Windams aside, and darted through the opening with a blast of engine exhaust, the Savior close behind him. He tuned the feeling out as he felt the Windams turn their fire on the BABIs and tear them out of the sky—no looking back.

"God, what a clusterfuck this all is," groaned Viveka. "Fukube's ships are fucking museum pieces. He's not going to do any good."

Athrun narrowed his eyes at the mass of dark shapes in the water before him. "Then _we_ will."

—

"I should have known _you'd_ be here again."

Emily fixed her eyes on the two black mobile suits blazing towards her—the Slaughter Windam and IWSP Windam she remembered well from Volgograd and Novorossiysk. They both darted apart and the IWSP Windam showered the Twilight with shellfire. Emily ducked beneath it, switching from her rifle to her beam saber as the Slaughter Windam charged at her, and with a single stroke she tore the Windam's beam rifle in two.

The Windam whirled around, ditching its rifle and drawing a saber of its own in one fluid motion, and Emily brought down her own blade to stop the attack. The IWSP Windam dropped in, sword raised—Emily jerked her mobile suit to the side, bringing up the Twilight's knee to slam into the IWSP Windam's chest. She brought down her saber towards its exposed waist—

Instead of a deathblow, it crashed down against the Slaughter Windam's blade, and the IWSP Windam darted to safety. Emily blinked in surprise when her auxiliary screen flickered to life, and she saw the same young face as from Volgograd.

"So," he said with a scowl, "it really _is_ you again."

The Twilight put its strength behind a powerful saber swing to hurl the Slaughter Windam back. It righted itself in an instant, and the pilot fixed Emily with a furious glare.

"Don't think you're getting away this time, little girl," he snapped. "I'm here to finish what we started in Volgograd."

"What, mass murder?" Emily shot back.

"No," the young man said, "I'm here to kill you!"

The two Windams raised their blades and charged.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"Three _Siegfried_-class carriers in range," Burt announced on the bridge. "Heat signatures suggest they're getting ready to drop mobile suits."

In the captain's chair, Meyrin glanced over at Chen. "Weapon status?"

"Tristans charged, Isolde loaded, Tannhäuser charge at 68 percent."

Meyrin fixed her sight on the aircraft in the lead. "Then let's draw some blood. Tristans, Isolde, target the _Siegfried_s and fire!"

With a great rumble through its decks, the _Minerva_ let loose a blistering volley of firepower. The shells lanced forward and smashed through the first _Siegfried_ plane's prow, knocking it backward as though it had been struck by a fist. As the first plane listed and sank from the clouds, the Tristans opened up next on the two aircraft on the first's flanks, ripping through both with a blaze of fire.

"Oh, _kickass!_" cried Roxy, pumping her fist in the air. "That's _never_ worked before!"

"Malik, maintain altitude," Meyrin ordered. "Parsifal launchers, stand by; we'll let them come to us."

—

The pressure sliced across Rau's consciousness like a knife, and he lit up with an eager grin as he whirled the Legend Gundam around. Mere Windams piloted by regular pilots were an adequate appetizer, but what approached now was the main course. It was only a black Slaughter Windam, with deep maroon instead of blue and the Eastern cross stamped onto its right shoulder, but by the pressure radiating from inside, Rau knew that it could only be Crayt Markav.

"Downgrading to a Windam, are you?" he cackled, and turned to bring his rifle to bear. The Slaughter Windam darted around his blasts with characteristic nimbleness and returned his fire, and Rau eagerly stashed his rifle in favor of a beam javelin. Sword-fighting was far more fun anyway.

The Windam jerked up as Rau tore apart its beam rifle, and retaliated with a saber strike against the Legend's beam shield. "So I've finally found you," Crayt snarled. "I've finally got you cornered!"

"Isn't that what you said about Hormuz?" Rau chuckled, and surged forward, throwing the Windam back. The black mobile suit lashed out with its right leg, kicking the Legend across the face; before Crayt could make good of the opening, Rau stabbed the javelin forward and deflected her killing saber stroke.

"The Resistance will be destroyed here, even if you aren't," Crayt shot back. "And even if you survive, you will be hunted by God Himself!"

Rau grinned. "I've heard that before." Crayt growled in fury and stormed forward.

—

"Damn, they've improved," grunted Shinn, the Destiny rattling under the Strike Noir's relentless sword blows. Shinn seized his chance to rush forward, slamming his Gundam's knee into the Noir's torso and knocking it back. With a crash, he brought down his Arondight against the Noir's two blades, punching the mobile suit aside—

His instincts screamed, and he threw the Destiny back just in time to avoid a vicious saber swipe from the Blu Duel. It tore towards him again and the Destiny shook as the Blu Duel hurled a trio of Stilettos into its face. Shinn shook his head and yanked the Destiny downward—just as the Blu Duel stabbed through the smoke with its saber.

"You must think you're _clever_ or something!" Mudie snapped, even as she fell back with a volley of blasts from her right-hand beam gun. Shinn dodged them effortlessly—but the Noir was there a moment later, pounding the Destiny's Arondight with another string of sword strokes. A pulsing column of energy flashed by the Destiny through one of its afterimages, singing the armor; Shinn snapped his attention up towards the Verde Buster, pouring firepower down on him. Then the Noir was upon him again, swords flashing in the morning sun.

"That's it," Shinn snarled, "now you're _pissing me off!_"

The Noir stormed forward, blades held back for another round, and the seed fell before Shinn's eyes.

A moment later, he slammed the Destiny bodily into the Noir, knocking it wide of its target. The Verde Buster lined up for another shot, but Shinn launched himself over it. The Blu Duel was there instantly, saber held high for a killing blow—

"_I don't think so!_"

Shinn thrust up the Destiny's left hand, igniting the palm cannon and catching the Blu Duel's beam saber blade on the palm cannon's shining energy. Mudie's eyes went wide in disbelief.

"Wha—he _caught it?_" The Blu Duel rattled and her world shook as the Destiny rammed its knee into the machine's torso. "Dammit! How the hell can you even catch a _beam saber blade?_" Shinn raised his sword for the deathblow—

"Not so fast, jackass!" screamed Shams, putting a beam cannon blast between the Destiny and Blu Duel. "Sven, wake up already!"

Sven shook his head furiously. "Keep the pressure on him," he ordered. "We'll take him down yet!"

—

"Oh, for fuck's sake," groaned Auel. "Not one of _those_."

Standing on the beach amid a heap of flaming wreckage—most of which, Sting recalled bitterly, was from the Resistance—the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss turned their sights towards the sea. The ground shook as claws came down and a Gelzuge mobile armor pulled itself out of the surf, glistening with wet metal in the morning sun.

"Okay," Sting said, "no big deal, we'll just get in close—"

A wave of firepower erupted from behind the Gelzuge, and Sting cursed as the three Gundams dove for cover, and a squadron of Ground Windams came streaking over the waves with blazing beam rifles.

"Fucking hell," Auel snarled. "No fair!"

The Gaia stepped forward, eyes flashing, and Sting and Auel turned towards Stella in surprise. "Leave that mobile armor to Stella."

"Wait, Stella, on your own—?" Sting started, but the Gaia lunged forward, vaulted over the Gelzuge's wave of beam fire, and came down with a crash and a drawn beam saber.

"Uh," started Auel, "Sting? Why is Stella hulking out here?"

The Ground Windams came charging in, beam rifles alight, and Sting lifted off his gunbarrels and jumped into the air. "Oh, whatever, Auel! Let's go!"

—

Beam sabers clashed and metal strained as Emily took on Grey and Merau's Windams in a vicious two-on-one swordfight. The IWSP Windam somersaulted over her head, whirling around for a killing slash at the Twilight's exposed back; Emily turned halfway around, punching forward with her beam shield to stop the blade cold. The Slaughter Windam drew back its saber; Emily jammed her own blade into its path, leaving the Twilight struggling against a Windam on each of its arms.

"You've killed enough of our comrades," hissed Grey. "I'm ending this, Angel of Death!"

Emily scowled at the sound of her father's name for her and lunged towards the Slaughter Windam, pushing it backward and pounding it with a downward saber hack. The IWSP Windam charged in from behind, sword held out to stab the Twilight's back; Emily whipped around to smack the sword wide of its target with her saber, and then slam her blade down onto the Windam's shield. The Slaughter Windam rose up again, beam saber ready; the Twilight rocketed skyward as Grey's Windam brought its blade down.

"You must not understand what you've done!" Grey cried. "You're messing up the entire world! So _I'll kill you!_"

"Try it!" Emily shot back, knocking the Windam back down as it charged for another swordfight. The IWSP Windam rose up behind her and she turned to face it—

Instead, her instinct rippled up through her and she went the Twilight diving to the side—just as a pulsing wave of red energy blew off the Windam's Striker pack and right arm. The smoking, ruined machine went plummeting towards the water.

"_Merau!_" Grey screamed, and snapped his eyes skyward. Emily darted aside again to dodge another blast, this one clearly aimed at her, and cringed at the hulking shadow of a Zamzazar mobile armor dropping down from the heavens.

The Zamzazar's eyes flashed and it turned its guns towards the Twilight, forcing Emily back on the defensive.

"_Julian, what the hell?_" Grey yelled. "Check your fucking fire! You took down Merau!"

Heedless, the Zamzazar barreled forward, beam cannons blazing. Emily scowled down at it as she dodged its blasts.

"I guess I'll have to take care of you, too!"

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

Another Resistance mobile suit burst into flames and exploded under the _Charlemagne_'s withering firepower. From the bridge, Danilov watched as Chiao Xu's legions threw themselves against the _Charlemagne_'s jet-black armor, all in vain. A Jet Dagger L came screaming towards the bridge tower; the CIWS emplacements alone shredded it like tissue paper.

"The _Minerva_ is targeting the air carrier fleet," Vera reported. "The _Volga_, _Don_, and _Columbia_ have already gone down. The _St. Lawrence_ and _Vistula_ are under attack."

Danilov cracked a grin. "Not anymore they aren't. Find their location and put a full salvo on them. It's time we announced our presence," he paused to scan the skies, "and settle our score."

—

Shinn clenched his fists around the Destiny's controls as the Alliance's three machines intensified their fire around him. The Noir stormed forward again, blades drawn, and swiped relentlessly after the Destiny and through its afterimages. The Blu Duel and Verde Buster tightened their fire around the Destiny's flight course, singing its armor with near-misses.

The Verde Buster leveled off its combined rifles for another pulsing blast. Shinn lunged over it, only for the Noir to rush into his face and pound him back with a string of sword strokes. The Blu Duel showered him with beam fire, knocking him even further back and letting the Noir launch another assault.

"Very clever, guys," Shinn snarled, "but you can't keep this up forever!"

With that, the Destiny raised its sword as the Noir charged in for another attack—but then jerked to the side, letting the Noir rush by and slash through nothing but air. Instead, the Destiny charged towards the Verde Buster, slicing past its furious beam fusillade. He brought down his sword onto its desperately-deployed heat bayonets, driving the green mobile suit back. The Blu Duel lunged into the Destiny's path, beam saber out to parry its sword, and Shinn bit back a curse. He sent the Destiny vaulting skyward as the Noir came in from behind with a killing slash.

"Dammit," Shinn grunted, "I just need a mistake..."

—

The Gelzuge swiped furiously at the Gaia Gundam with its beam-tipped claws, but Stella had no fear. This thing was easy to beat.

The Gaia somersaulted over a scissoring swing and lunged forward. The Gelzuge brought its beam rifles to bear, but too late as the Gaia brought its saber across through both of its rifles. The Gelzuge stabbed forward with its claws, and the Gaia ducked beneath its attack and darted backwards to relative safety. The Gelzuge let loose a salvo of beam cannon shots from the insides of its claws, forcing the Gaia back further behind its shield, and Stella narrowed her eyes at her creeping adversary.

"I didn't know it could do _that_," she muttered, "but it won't be enough!"

Stella sprung forward, planting her machine's shield into the sand and pushing up into the sky with her left arm. The Gelzuge followed her with a volley of beam fire, and Stella whirled around for the finishing attack, beam saber raised high—

Instead, the sky filled with beam fire, and Stella darted aside and back to earth, where a trio of Ground Windams pummeled her with relentless firepower. She tried to draw her beam rifle, but the Windams kept up the pressure, forcing her back and paving the way for the Gelzuge to barrel towards her.

"_No you don't!_"

With a crash, the Abyss Gundam landed behind the three Windams and tore apart two of them with a devastating beam barrage. The third jetted to the side, bringing its rifle to bear—and instead, the Chaos dropped into its sight and cut it in half with a beam blade-assisted kick.

The Gelzuge poured firepower after them, and the two Gundams rocketed down next to the Gaia.

"Having fun, I see," Sting chuckled. "You alright in there, Stella?"

Stella pursed her lips—she totally had things under control. "Stella is fine," she answered, and Auel snickered at her pouting tone of voice.

"Well then," Sting said, turning his eyes towards the Gelzuge, "let's just put that thing to bed and we'll be on our way!"

The three Gundams rocketed apart, just as the Gelzuge opened fire. Stella somersaulted over its blasts, whipping out a beam saber and slicing off the Gelzuge's right arm. She plunged the saber into the mobile armor's hull, tearing off its right-hand wing—just in time for the Abyss to line up on the mobile armor's right side and pound it with firepower. The stricken Gelzuge staggered to the side, belching smoke and fire from its wounds—and just as the Chaos's gunbarrels sprang into action, eviscerating the mobile armor's left side with a torrent of beams. Stella whirled around on the Gelzuge's back and slammed her saber down into the mobile armor's center, and then leapt off and turned to watch the defeated Gelzuge collapse to the ground and explode.

"Man," sighed Auel, "that's always satisfying."

The Chaos stepped forward. "Come on, you two, Fukube is attacking the Alliance fleet directly. Let's go help out."

The trio of Gundams glanced once more at the ruined hulk of the Gelzuge and jumped into the sky.

—

**Earth Alliance Daedalus Crater lunar base, the Moon**

"Our troops are in position," the deckhand reported. "Admiral MacIntyre reports that all the conditions are satisfied. Firing window begins in sixty-five seconds."

The commandant of the Daedalus Crater base sat back in his chair in the control room, watching scenes of the battle at Carpentaria flashing across the control room's main monitor. The Requiem cannon was charged and ready; the relay points were in position; the Resistance did not appear to suspect a thing. He stood up and straightened out his black Phantom Pain uniform. This would be the hard part.

"You know, sir," his adjutant said quietly at his side, "there's still a good chance we'll hit our own forces with this thing. Or nothing at all."

"I know," the commandant replied. "But if this works right, there's also a good chance it will end this war in one blow." He cracked a smile. "I think that's worth taking the risk."

His adjutant nodded in agreement, and the commandant took hold of the Requiem cannon's trigger and held it aloft.

"Firing window begins in fifteen seconds!" one of the deckhands exclaimed. The commandant edged his finger over the trigger as the countdown reached zero.

_For a peaceful world..._

He pulled the trigger, and the Requiem cannon fired.

—

**ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

Emily groaned in frustration as another swipe from the Zamzazar's claws just missed taking off one of the Twilight's arms. She had been close enough to taking down that Slaughter Windam and getting rid of an obnoxious distraction, but now there was _this thing_ here too.

The Zamzazar snapped its claws viciously at the dodging Twilight and poured a wave of beam fire after it. Emily darted to the side and let her machine's afterimages take the blow. She thought for an instant about switching back to her rifle, but remembered the mobile armor's positron reflector—no way would _that_ work.

Instead, the instinct prompted her to throw her beam shield up, just as a beam saber slammed against it. She glanced up, finding the Slaughter Windam surging forward and pushing her own machine back. On the auxiliary screen, she saw fury flash through its pilot's eyes.

"Don't think I'll let you get away that easy, Angel of Death! We have a fight to finish!"

Emily scowled back and, with a hard shove, sent the Windam staggering back—just in time to dart to the side and dodge a furious swipe from the Zamzazar's claws. The Windam moved to charge over the Zamzazar's body—

...but instead, with a sickening crash, the Zamzazar slammed its left-hand forward claw into the Windam's torso, hurling the mobile suit of the sky. Grey's disbelieving face vanished from the Twilight's auxiliary screen, and Emily turned in shock towards the hulking mobile armor as it swung down upon her.

"You'd even shoot down your own allies?" she exclaimed. The Zamzazar answered with a volley of beam fire, forcing the Twilight back on the defensive. "Well then I'm almost going to _enjoy_ this!"

The Zamzazar closed in again, claws spread wide—

Fear suddenly shot up Emily's spine, and she launched her Gundam clear over the Zamzazar and roared backward. She shot her eyes up towards the sky—up there, somewhere, something—

Her answer came as a blinding column of golden light came streaking out of the heavens. It landed with a crash, and Emily gasped in horror as hundreds of flickering lives were swallowed up by the blaze. The huge, pulsing column of light began to move—she wracked her brain for an explanation. What _was_ that thing? Where did it come from? It ground its way across the battlefield, east to west, its wake hidden by a thick pall of smoke—but Emily knew what lay underneath it. There was nothing but carnage as far as she could sense. The black cloud of death boiled up from the battlefield and descended on her mind, and screams went echoing through her ears.

Not to be forgotten, the Zamzazar came at her again, but she darted to the side and glanced back towards the tower of light. It began to flicker and dissipate, and the smoke parted around it—

Emily stared in horror at the blackened, smoking wreckage that was formerly the center of Carpentaria's first and second defensive lines. Hundreds, if not thousands of lives had gone out in that blinding flash of light. She turned towards the beaches—where the Alliance troops were already on the move, charging into the breach. Nobody on the Resistance's side was yet putting up a fight—and how could they? It seemed as though a god had just torn the Resistance's forces asunder.

The Zamzazar attacked again, and Emily turned her eyes back towards it. They had done this, yes—but she was not dead yet.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"What the hell was _that?_" screamed Abbey, over the warning sirens and the din of battle. In the captain's chair, Meyrin sat transfixed. She had seen that light before. It had sawed the PLANTs out of the sky, destroyed her parents, her home, her people—there was no doubt in her mind. That was the Requiem.

She looked down towards the battlefield, where the Alliance's troops were already smashing their way through the survivors. The Resistance's defenders at Carpentaria had three lines, but two of them had just been torn open in a single blow, by a single weapon. She looked up at the sky; surely they couldn't fire the Requiem again, not so soon. But why would they? Look at the damage they had done. The beaches looked like the very apocalypse itself had torn open the sky and erased so many Resistance soldiers from existence.

"They fired the Requiem," Malik said quietly, as the rest of the bridge crew seemed to piece together what had just happened, "didn't they?"

Meyrin closed her eyes and shut out the image of Lord Djibril destroying her people. So he had done it again. But the Requiem had not destroyed the _Minerva_ in CE 74; it had not done so now; and she would not let this ship fall. Not yet, not with its mission still incomplete, and not—

"Heat signature at twelve o'clock!" Burt cried out from the sensor console. "It's...it's the _Charlemagne!_"

The _Charlemagne_. Meyrin snapped her eyes up towards the hulking black hull. Her once and future foe, the enemy that had brought the _Minerva_ closest to extinction, heading straight for her—

Her blood boiled.

_Bring it on._

—

**Heaven's Base, Iceland**

Lord Djibril's ecstatic laughter filled the control room at Heaven's Base, sending a chill over the soldiers operating the controls. The screens were filled with images of the destruction wrought by the Requiem cannon. Alliance troops were already pouring through the gap and rolling up the remainder of the Resistance's first two defensive lines—and soon, everyone knew, this battle would be over.

Djibril threw out his hands with a flourish. "It worked even better than we expected!" he cackled. "Perfect! Wonderful! They had no way of seeing that coming! You can almost _feel_ the demoralization, even from here!"

The generals behind him looked on nervously as Djibril celebrated the macabre scene, before one of them in the black uniform of the Phantom Pain stepped forward anxiously. "Sir, we should deploy them now, while the enemy is still on his heels."

"Yes, yes," Djibril said, wiping a joyful tear from his eyes. He whirled around to face the control room again. "Admiral MacIntyre!" The admiral's wan face duly appeared on one of the monitors. "The time has come to end this war! I hereby authorize you to launch the Destroy units!" He cracked a vicious grin. "And _show no mercy!_"

—

**ZAFT Carpentaria base, Australia**

The Twilight rattled as another claw swipe came a little too close for comfort. Emily hurled her machine over the Zamzazar's body, ducking around a swipe from one of the rear claws and wheeling around towards the mobile armor's exposed back. It fired off another energy cannon blast, forcing the Twilight to dodge again, and followed it up with yet another barrage of beams.

"_That's it!_" Emily snarled. "Enough of this!"

The Twilight stowed its beam saber and backed away under another volley. The Zamzazar whipped itself around, charging in with its claws spread wide, and Emily clenched her teeth as the seed fell before her—

Faster than her foe could see, Emily threw her Gundam forward, digging the Twilight's sharp fingers into the Zamzazar's right-hand claw. With a hard yank and an ear-piercing shriek of snapping metal, she ripped the entire assembly free from the mobile armor's body, rocketing up with it. The mobile armor shuddered as though in pain, sparks and smoke flowing like blood from the wound. Emily let out a scream, twirling the claw in her mobile suit's hands to face downward, and plunged down, towards the cockpit, towards the three burning flames of panic inside—

...and all three disappeared as she drove the claw down through the Zamzazar's cockpit hatch. The Twilight jetted backward, deployed its long range cannon, and speared the dying mobile armor on a pulsing red blast, blowing it to flaming pieces in a thundering explosion.

Emily let out her breath, watching the smoking wreckage fall towards the earth—only for the world to shake again amid another rumbling crash, and that one had not come from the Zamzazar. She looked around in surprise and found her answer among the Alliance's fleet—where, ascending from the decks of three _Spengler_ aircraft carriers, rose three gleaming and terrifying Destroy Gundams.

"What—_three_ of those things?" Emily cried. One, she knew, had been bad enough in Murmansk—but _three_, and with the Resistance's forces in tatters after that enormous blast of light—

Her senses flared up in the base of her consciousness, and she snapped her eyes towards the sky at the source of the feeling—and at a mobile suit, charging out of the heavens.

Inside the Morrigan Gundam, Monique du Prey flashed a wicked grin.

"Fancy seeing you here, Miss _Angel of Death!_"

—

To be concluded...


	50. Phase 50: Find the Way

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED TWILIGHT

—

Phase 50 - Find the Way

—

**April 6th, CE 77 - Earth Alliance flagship **_**Chrysalis**_**, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia**

This was not the first time Grand Admiral MacIntyre had watched a Destroy unit on the warpath. On a purely professional level, there was something awe-inspiring to see one of those monstrous gods of war at work. They tore through enemy formations like tissue paper and their shimmering positron reflectors made counterattack impossible for all but the most skilled and well-equipped foes. And that was only one. Rampaging through Carpentaria's shattered lines of defense were no less than three.

And yet it was clear, every time one of those massive weapons went out, why the Earth Alliance was still wrapped up in war three years after it had declared victory over ZAFT. How could people fail to hate these monstrosities, and their own powerlessness to stop them? How could people fail to love the _Minerva_, the only force in the Resistance, it seemed, that _could_ stop them?

But that was about to change. The _Charlemagne_ was grinding forward into the fight, and Ivan Danilov and his titanic black warship were the only things the _Minerva_ _hadn't_ stopped. And nobody could have stopped the Requiem. That had gone perfectly. It had sawed open the Resistance's first two lines right down the middle—and the third line was already getting pushed back into the base itself. MacIntyre glanced towards the sky, and the faint but familiar red streaks of drop pods in atmospheric reentry. The orbital drop was right on schedule too, and Carpentaria's defenders appeared none the wiser. Soon there would be a good two battalions of mobile suits to the south of Carpentaria, causing havoc behind the lines. Perhaps the war could, as Lord Djibril had gambled, be won here today.

Which was good, he mused, because there was another war on its way.

—

"_Those_ things again."

In the Chaos's cockpit, Sting was not sure which made him shudder more: the towering Destroy Gundam looming over the waves, or how Stella seemed not afraid, not impressed, not dismayed, but downright _offended_ to see it. In battle, he knew, she was even less normal than she usually was—because most people, when faced with a Destroy Gundam, did not sneer and decide to kill it.

Then again, as he turned back towards the Destroy, so did he.

"Well," he grunted, "I guess we shouldn't be surprised that _they're_ showing up." He glanced over at the Gaia and Abyss, standing ready on the beach as the waves crashed in. They had returned to the beach to help the shattered Resistance forces in the wake of the Requiem attack, but that had not gone well, and it was a moot point either way now. "Shall we proceed to kick its ass?"

Auel grinned back. "Kick its ass _hard_."

Stella merely nodded, and Sting broke out into a smirk. Up ahead, the Destroy tilted its massive cannons down towards the beach.

"Well then," he said, "_break!_"

The three Gundams rocketed apart, just as the Destroy opened fire. Sting concentrated for a moment, lifting off the Chaos's gunbarrels, and lunged to the right as the Destroy let loose a punishing barrage from its circumference cannons. The Abyss deflected a volley with its shoulder shells and returned the fire with a full burst of its own, pounding against the positron reflector—distracting it just long enough to let the Gaia dart in close with its beam saber drawn.

Instead, the Destroy angled one of its cannons to cut the Gaia off with a well-placed shot, and the guns roared back to life, forcing all three smaller mobile suits on the defensive.

"I forgot, they've improved these things," Sting grunted. "Stella, we'll distract it again! Go!"

—

Shinn Asuka snarled a curse as the Strike Noir came within inches of taking off the Destiny Gundam's head. This entire battle was falling apart at the seams. First the fleet, then the Requiem blast, now the Destroys—what was next?

A knot of pressure rose up behind him, descending from the sky, and Shinn realized with a sinking heart that _that_—an orbital drop—was what was next.

"Should've known this would be a goddamned failure!" he snapped, and jammed his sword into the Noir's path to deflect its sword strokes. "When is it _not?_"

The Noir took another swing at him, and Shinn seized his chance. He threw the Destiny beneath the Noir's feet and then rocketed up behind it. The Blu Duel charged forward, beam saber ablaze—Shinn lunged skyward again, letting the Blu Duel slice through nothing but an afterimage. The Verde Buster brought its rifles together to fire a pulsing red blast towards the Destiny, and Shinn felt the Blu Duel lining up its guns at his Gundam's back.

_I was wondering when you'd fall for this...!_

Shinn threw the Destiny back towards the earth just before the Verde Buster's beam struck. The Blu Duel followed his descent and fired just as Shinn slammed on the brakes—and just before he lunged to the side. The Blu Duel's two blasts instead passed through the afterimages and slammed directly through the Verde Buster's shoulders, striking the missile magazines, blowing both its arms apart, and sending the mobile suit's ruined hulk dropping towards the sea.

Inside the Blu Duel, Mudie's blood froze in her veins. She stared for a moment after the smoking Verde Buster, and the horrible wave of fear rushed up her throat.

"_Shams!_"

Her world flashed red and she whipped around towards the Destiny, already occupied by the Noir in another swordfight. She hadn't meant to—she had been aiming at that thing—what if he—

"You bastard," she snarled, "I'm going to gut you!"

—

Rau Le Creuset grinned like a beast as he brought his javelin down onto the Slaughter Windam's beam saber. Crayt Markav could put up a decent fight in that Euclid of hers, and even in a mere Windam, but she still could not hope to defeat him—not like this, not here, and not yet.

The Windam lunged forward, trying in vain to push the Legend back. Crayt bit back a scowl in the cockpit, with the gray Gundam looming above her. "Why you continue to fight like this is a mystery to me," she snarled. "You saw what we can do. Ask your comrades who died in the Requiem's blast!"

"Oh, yes, a master stroke, that was! My compliments!" cackled Rau. "I'm very impressed. But you didn't kill us all, and that's a mistake that will cost you!" The Legend hurled the Windam back with a saber swing and charged forward. The Windam darted aside, only for the Legend to whip around, line up its beam cannons, and open fire. Crayt hissed in frustration and flung her Windam down towards the earth—and the Legend swept down upon her with a saber hack that the Windam's blade barely blocked.

"The Requiem may not have killed you, but don't think I'll let you leave here alive!" Crayt snapped. "After all..."

Rau spared a glance over his shoulder at a tremendous crashing noise, and found the hulking mass of a Destroy Gundam grinding towards him from behind.

"...you still have to deal with _that!_"

Crayt felt her heart sink as Rau merely flashed a vicious grin. "I've always wanted to kill one of those things for myself," he chuckled. "First I see a truly amazing example of your ridiculous, destructive hypocrisy, then I get _this!_ This day just gets better and better!" He glanced over his shoulder again. "Well, I'll enjoy that, but first, a loose end—!"

With a start, Crayt threw the Windam back to avoid the Legend's furious saber swipe—but too late. Rau laughed triumphantly, the Legend's beam cannons opened fire, and Crayt watched in disbelief as Rau blasted her Windam out of the sky.

Inside the Legend, Rau frowned for a moment. She wasn't dead—and she was going to land in the ocean. Well, he thought as he turned towards the Destroy, no matter; he had far more fun ahead of him than that.

—

"Well, I mean, come on," Viveka said with a chuckle as the Savior and Infinite Justice rocketed back towards the beach. "It's _only_ three times as big as us."

Athrun took a breath that wavered more than he would have liked. "I'm not joking, Viveka," he replied. "I've lost a lot of friends to these things. Don't go tempting fate."

Viveka opened her mouth to shoot back a witty retort, but the look of painful memory in his eyes stopped her short. "Alright," she murmured, "just don't think I'm going to be useless."

"Never." Athrun narrowed his eyes. "It's starting up—_move!_"

The Savior and Justice lunged apart, just as the Destroy let loose a blazing beam cannon salvo. Athrun sent the Justice skyward, stashed his beam rifle in favor of his well-worn double-bladed saber, and plunged back towards the smooth, rounded armor. Viveka lined up behind him, pouring plasma fire after him and into the Destroy's positron reflector.

Instead of shifting back, the Destroy plowed ahead with a wave of missiles and beam fire. Athrun hissed a curse and darted back towards the sky with Viveka, lining up to cut down the missiles with a burst of CIWS fire.

"So they improved," Athrun snarled. "Well, so have we!"

The Destroy angled up its Aufprall Dreizhen cannons and opened fire, forcing the two Gundams apart again, and Athrun charged back down with a scream.

—

Tension rippling up her veins, Emily waited anxiously for the Morrigan Gundam to attack again. The Twilight jammed its beam saber up to deflect the Morrigan's blow, and lunged aside as the white Gundam deployed its railguns for a point-blank shot.

"What a pleasant surprise!" Monique cackled. "You've gotten better!"

Emily glared back. "You have no idea."

The Morrigan brought its saber down again and roared after the Twilight, blades clashing and sparks flying. "Oh, but I do!" Monique laughed. "I've been looking forward to this fight for quite a while, little girl!"

With a flourish, the Morrigan charged again and swept with its saber at the Twilight's waist. Emily caught the blade with her own, knocked it back, and whipped around for a swing of her own, missing the Morrigan's head by inches. She closed in as her foe recovered, bringing her own blade down onto the Morrigan's beam shield—and with a scream, she drove the Twilight's knee up into the Morrigan's torso, throwing the entire mobile suit back.

"Don't think this'll go like last time!" Emily snapped. "You have no idea what I can do!"

"Don't I," chuckled Monique. "I saw what you did to those ZAFT troops the other day, sweetie. Are you gonna crush me to death too?"

Emily scowled down at the white mobile suit. "You'll be lucky if it's that quick."

The Morrigan charged again, saber flying. "Then let's make it count, girlie!"

The Twilight reared back, pounding its saber against the Morrigan's blade, and rammed it in the chest with its shoulder. As Monique struggled to regain control, the Twilight reared up before her, and it was all she could do to jam her saber into the Twilight's path and stop its blade. The black Gundam flung its enemy forward, but Monique stopped a second downward hack with her own blade and stared in surprise into the Twilight's burning blue eyes. She wasn't kidding—she _had_ improved.

"Your father would be proud—" she started with a grin.

She felt herself thrown back into the cockpit seat as the Twilight surged forward. "_Don't_ talk to me about my _father!_" Emily screamed.

Monique shot back with a wicked smile. "Touched a nerve, did I?" The Twilight answered with another powerful saber blow. "Well, let's go, little angel! Let's get you _mad!_"

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

"Heat signatures rising!" Burt cried from the sensor console. "_Charlemagne_ is preparing to fire!"

Meyrin eyed the massive black warship warily for a moment. It had firepower far beyond the _Minerva_, but her ship had speed and maneuverability—and the _Charlemagne_, she knew, was not invincible. If she could somehow turn its own firepower against it...

"Malik, I'll leave the evasive action to you," she said. "Chen, keep the Parsifals loaded and get the Tannhäuser charged up. Keep the heat level just below the maximum operating threshold."

"The radiation is going to fry everyone here," Abbey warned, "including the troops on our side."

"Not the way I'm going to use it."

The _Minerva_ swung around and below the _Charlemagne_'s pulsing column of beam fire. Meyrin eyed the wave for a moment—

"Chen, _fire!_"

With a rumble, the _Minerva's_ Isolde and Tristan guns opened fire. The shells hissed by the _Charlemagne_'s bridge tower, but the Tristans made contact—against laminated armor, the green blasts splashing off harmlessly.

"_Charlemagne_ preparing to fire again!" Burt exclaimed. "The heat signature is front-loaded—they must be charging up those bow cannons!"

Meyrin bit back a curse—the _Minerva_ was not yet in position. "Malik, evade!"

As the _Minerva_ struggled to starboard and barely escaped a shining inferno of positrons, Meyrin glanced back at the huge jet-black hull. It was gigantic, it was protected by laminated armor, and it had enough firepower to destroy a city—but it also had a whole lot of mass, and Meyrin was going to make that count.

—

The Legend Gundam danced with expert precision through the Destroy Gundam's vicious beam storm. The red eyes flashed and the Destroy moved forward, positron reflector flickering. Rau glanced down towards the Destroy's feet, where he could see some Resistance mobile suits trying to bring the colossus down. A moment later they were blown apart by the Destroy's circumference beam cannons, and Rau shrugged his shoulders indifferently. With tactics like that they practically _deserved_ to die.

The Destroy let loose another blast from its overhanging cannons, forcing the Legend back on the defensive. Rau scanned his foe for an opening—he would have to get close and use the javelin to do any damage, thanks to that reflector. He lined up for a beam cannon barrage of his own to pound the reflector with a hurricane of beams and charging in close as the Destroy angled its own cannons for a counterattack. The blasts seared by the Legend, scorching its armor, but Rau flashed a grin as he brought down his javelin—tearing a gash between the eyes on its huge backpack.

At that, belching smoke and fire from the wound, the Destroy shuddered and began to straighten up. Rau merely grinned, as the Destroy ponderously transformed into its hulking mobile suit form.

"Now that's more like it," he chuckled, even as the Destroy opened fire again.

—

"One of you is down," Shinn grunted, as the Strike Noir rained sword strikes down onto his Arondight blade. "Now for the other—!"

Inside the Noir, Sven snapped his glance over his shoulder. "Mudie, _now!_"

The Blu Duel dropped in behind the Destiny, beam guns deployed, and opened fire—Shinn saw it coming and threw the Destiny to the side, forcing the Noir to dodge Mudie's killing shots.

"Ah, not falling for that again, are you?" Shinn cried. "Too bad!"

The Destiny rocketed up with a roar of engines that shook the sky, and Mudie screamed in shock was the unstoppable Gundam slammed its left hand clear through her machine's left shoulder, detonating the supply of Stiletto penetrators. The Blu Duel shuddered as its entire left arm went sailing towards the ocean, and Mudie whirled around in fury with her remaining arm—

Instead, the Blu Duel reeled back as if in agony, as the Destiny slashed off the machine's entire right arm and sent it spiraling towards the sea with a stunning kick to the chest.

Inside the Noir, Sven ground his teeth in frustration. Of course those two would get themselves shot down, leaving him to fight the Destiny alone. The Gundam with the wings of light whipped around, pointing its sword combatively at the Noir.

"You and me now, buddy," Shinn said, grinning triumphantly.

Sven charged at the Destiny with a scream, swords raised. As the Destiny pulled back for a counterstrike, the Noir somersaulted over the Destiny and whirled around, swinging for its waist; Shinn jammed his sword into the path and knocked the Noir's blades aside. He surged forward and threw the Noir back; Sven shot his machine's right foot upward, catching the Destiny by the side of the head and throwing the Destiny backward. He followed up with a furious sword stab, only for the Destiny to twist around, bring down its own sword onto the Noir's blades, and leave the two mobile suits locked together, glowering into each other's eyes.

"Whether or not you survive, the Resistance has been destroyed as a fighting force," Sven growled, taking some solace in the knowledge that his words would reach the enemy pilot through the vibrating contact between the two machines. "You are defeated no matter what!"

Shinn merely chuckled. "I've heard _that_ before, Devil's Saber."

Sven scowled and pushed forward to knock the Destiny back, and charged to resume the fight as the seed fell before his eyes.

—

Athrun Zala bit back a curse as the Destroy unit before him poured firepower into his beam shield. Viveka's Savior Gundam lunged up behind him, letting loose a plasma cannon volley that pounded uselessly against the positron reflector—just long enough for Athrun to charge, saber held back.

Instead of making contact, he threw the Justice aside and let the Destroy fire off another wave of beams. He ground his teeth in frustration and leapt backward—and the Destroy, rattling the earth, began to transform.

"Y'know, this thing wasn't such a pain to kill when it was all eight of us," Viveka sighed, the Savior crashing down next to him.

"Its defensive power is lower in this form," Athrun answered, cut off when the world shook and the Destroy's transformation locked itself into place.

He snapped a glance over his shoulder, at the sight of a squadron of Resistance mobile suits rising up behind him. Jet Dagger Ls, DINNs, BABIs—none of them with a chance. A grizzled face appeared on Athrun's auxiliary monitor.

"Commander Zala, we'll cover you!" he cried. "Get in close!"

Athrun watched in disbelief as the mobile suits spread out, letting loose their full firepower, even as it impacted harmlessly against the reflector. He charged forward, hoping to use the distraction—but instead, the Destroy ignited a massive beam saber on its right wrist and swept the blade through its foes horizontally. Athrun somersaulted over the blade, but the others were not so lucky, and disappeared in a massive burst of flame.

"Dammit," he grunted, "how can it move that big an arm so quickly—?"

The Savior darted up above the Justice with another plasma volley, only to see it land against the reflector. Viveka let out a harsh laugh and darted forward, ducking beneath the Destroy's second saber swipe, and triumphantly plunged a saber of her own down towards the Destroy's head—

Athrun's eyes went wide. "_Get out of there!_"

Viveka blinked in surprise—just in time to see the Destroy tilt its head up and reveal a cannon there. She hurled the Savior aside an instant before it fired, letting it singe her Gundam's crimson armor, and backed away as it poured firepower after her.

"Goddammit!" she exclaimed. "Where—how the hell—_that's not fair!_"

The Justice threw itself between the Savior and the Destroy. "I'll handle things that close," Athrun said. "You keep it distracted."

"Why do you get to have all the fun?" she muttered.

"Oh, trust me," Athrun answered, his face grim, "you'll have all the fun you can handle."

The two Gundams roared apart as the Destroy opened fire again.

—

"Man," sighed Auel, watching grimly as the Destroy completed its transformation and ignited the beam sabers on its wrists, "I hate it when it does that."

Sting cracked his knuckles and spared a glance towards the Gaia. "You ready, Stella?"

Instead of answering, the Gaia pounced forward, beam saber flashing to life. It vaulted off one foot into the air, somersaulting over the Destroy's furious saber swipe, and came down with a scream to slash a diagonal scar over the Destroy's face. Stella pushed off from the Destroy's chest with the Gaia's feet, backflipped over another saber swipe, and then threw herself back towards the beach as the beam cannons opened fire again.

Sting and Auel watched in surprise as the black Gundam landed and pointed its saber combatively at the towering Destroy.

"Um, okay," said Auel, "point made. Sting, let's go!"

The three Gundams jumped back into the sky and darted apart, letting the Destroy's fire slice between them. Auel lined up for a return barrage of his own, pummeling the Destroy's positron reflector; Sting hurled the Chaos in close, igniting the beam claws on its feet and kicking upwards. The blades tore a pair of smoking gashes into the Destroy's left arm, and Sting rocketed skyward to dodge the resulting saber swipe.

With the Destroy's arms out, Stella seized her chance, rushing in close with beam saber held high.

"You're just a target!" Stella screamed, and somersaulted over the Destroy's chest cannon blasts. The Destroy brought its right arm around, saber blazing—but Stella jammed her shield into its path, stopping the entire blade. "_I'm going to crush you!_" Sparks flew and the shriek of tearing metal filled the air as Stella brought her saber down, severing the Destroy's right arm at the elbow.

The Destroy fired its chest cannons again, but Stella hurled her Gundam towards the sky, scowling down at the wounded Destroy.

"Jesus, Stella, take it easy," Sting began. "Auel, focus on the left arm! I've got it damaged!"

—

Emily squinted through the sparks as the Twilight and Morrigan clashed, beam sabers blazing against each other. The Morrigan brought up its knee, ramming the Twilight back; Emily seized her chance as the Morrigan closed in and planted a solid left hook against the Morrigan's face. Monique snarled in anger and stabbed forward with her saber, deflecting the Twilight's killing blow.

"So how do you like it?" she chuckled, grinning at Emily's glowering face. "All that power that your father gave you. It's invigorating, isn't it?" The Morrigan rushed forward, engines roaring, and pounded the Twilight's saber again. "Can you feel it creeping back up to the surface? Can you hear his voice? Do you understand now that _you can never escape?_"

Emily scowled back and kicked the Morrigan in the stomach. Monique leveled off her submachinegun in her left hand—only for the Twilight to rip it clear from her hands and throw it towards the ground. Monique looked on in surprise as the Twilight charged again for another swordfight.

"This power is _mine_," she snarled, "and I'll thank you to _remember it!_"

The Twilight slammed its saber down against the Morrigan's blade, and both Gundams were showed with sparks.

—

**Earth Alliance battleship **_**Charlemagne**_

With his ship rumbling from near-misses and return fire, Ivan Danilov kept his eyes fixed on the _Minerva_, twisting around to his ship's port side. The _Minerva_ had scored a few hits, but nothing that the _Charlemagne_'s laminated armor could not shrug off. But the _Charlemagne_, for all its firepower, had yet to land a hit—and Danilov was not about to let it stay that way.

"_Minerva's_ heat signature is staying steady, sir," the sensor officer reported. "It's still focused on the prow. The positron cannon's heat signature and energy readings remain the same."

"They must be waiting to set that thing loose," Vera muttered. "But if they fire it, the radiation will kill their own troops as well."

"Not necessarily," Danilov warned. "Ronald, put the weapons on a free firing pattern. Don't give them an opening!"

The _Charlemagne_'s guns boomed again, filling the sky with pulsing beam blasts, and Danilov eyed his winged foe warily as it swerved away from his vessel's irresistible firepower.

_I must not be getting in your head this time,_ he thought ruefully. _But I don't have to this time._

—

Viveka laughed victoriously as her saber came down with a shriek of metal and she severed the Destroy Gundam's left arm at the upper arm, lopping the whole thing off and darting aside as its circumference cannons opened fire again. "_Ha!_ Take that, you fucking brick!"

Inside the Justice, Athrun slalomed through the web of firepower and hurled his Gundam towards the ground, beneath a pulsing wave of beam fire. He snapped up the Grapple Stinger anchor and fired it, clamping it down into the Destroy's right arm. The Destroy turned its head towards him, its Zorn cannon already glowing with energy, but too late—Athrun used the Grapple Stinger to drag himself past the Destroy's fire and slice off its right arm at the elbow.

The two Gundams came back together before the wounded Destroy, beam sabers shining in the sun. "One more attack should do it," Athrun said, "unless things go wrong, of course."

With a shudder, the Destroy opened fire again and the two Gundams darted apart. "But first, if you'll indulge me for a second...!" Viveka snapped, and fired back with a plasma cannon blast against the Destroy's reflector. The Destroy fired back with its mouth and chest cannons, forcing the Savior back on the defensive. Athrun hurled himself into the fray and fired with his own beam cannons to catch the Destroy's attention—and an instant later, the Savior somersaulted down in front of the Destroy and lopped off its head with a single saber stroke.

Athrun looked on in surprise as the Destroy's severed head slammed into the sand and Viveka took off amidst the Destroy's furious return fire.

"_Goddammit_ have I always wanted to do that!" she laughed. "Okay, hero-boy, put him to sleep!"

Athrun shook his head with a sigh, and the two Gundams rocketed down towards the mauled Destroy. It let loose a vicious beam cannon barrage, but the two Gundams danced through the beams and darted apart. Viveka plunged down towards its legs, severed the left one at the knee, and sent the Destroy pitching forward.

With a scream, Athrun charged in close and drove his beam saber into the Destroy's cockpit. An ear-piercing shriek of torn metal filled the air as Athrun whipped his saber up and widened the wound, then darted aside—and the Savior poured firepower into the opening.

Athrun backed away and landed with a satisfying crash as the Destroy collapsed forward and finally died in a thundering explosion. The Savior came down next to him.

"See?" Viveka said with a smirk. "I can do heroic crazy shit and not die too."

Athrun, however, was silent as he surveyed his machine's instruments. The entire third line had retreated back into the base complex, and the Alliance forces were now fighting building-by-building. And no one had been able to contact Wellington for over an hour. He reached out with his senses, searching for the commandant among all the flickering and vanishing lives—but there was nothing. Was he dead, or was Athrun simply not sensitive enough?

"This isn't going well," Athrun grunted. "Come on, let's move back with the line."

The two Gundams turned south and took off.

—

"Close, but not close enough!" cackled Rau Le Creuset as the Legend Gundam effortlessly danced through the Destroy's furious beam fire. "Now then, let's just get you to leave me an opening and...!"

The Destroy swiped at the Legend wildly with one of its huge wrist-mounted beam sabers. Rau flashed a vicious grin as he twisted the Legend up over the blade, while dipping down his own javelin and slicing off the Destroy's left arm. It swung up towards the Legend with its right arm; Rau punched the blade back with his beam shield, cackled with glee, and seized his opportunity to storm forward and stab the Destroy through the middle of its chest cannon array.

The wounded giant staggered back under the blow and pummeled the Legend's beam shields with blasts. Rau scanned the Destroy's mutilated body—the smoke pouring from its chest and the smoldering, molten stump of its left arm—and planned his next move. The Destroy stormed forward with its remaining saber, bringing it down vertically; the Legend jetted to the right and stabbed to the side with its saber, cleanly cutting off the saber emitter. The Destroy swiped with its arm towards the Legend; Rau somersaulted over the arm and lunged down to stab the Destroy through the face, blowing apart its head.

"I appreciate your being stupid!" Rau laughed. "Now, to finish you off!"

The Destroy poured firepower into the Legend's beam shield, driving it back. Rau hurled his Gundam towards the ground, and the Destroy desperately followed him with a wall of fire—

Too late to see, the Legend lunged up towards the Destroy's chest, ripped open its cockpit with an upward saber strike, and pounded a full volley of beam cannon shots into the wound.

Rau backed away with a grin as the dying Destroy staggered back, flames and smoke ripping out of its armor, and watched it die in a massive explosion.

—

The gunbarrels swarmed around the Destroy, pounding its armor ruthlessly. The hulking mobile suit staggered back under the blows and raised its remaining arm to strike back. Instead, Auel came down in the Abyss with a scream, sweeping his lance through the arm at the elbow and slicing it off. The Abyss rocketed to the side, whirled around, and fired back with a punishing barrage of beams.

"Alright, one more time!" Sting cried; the Chaos darted in close and ripped the Destroy's head off with one of its foot-mounted claws. "Stella!"

Screaming all the way, Stella threw the Gaia through the Destroy's desperate net of beams and tore her way up to the Destroy's chest. The towering mobile suit took a tentative step back—Stella's eyes flashed in determination, and she drove her saber into the cockpit.

Dying and spewing fire, the Destroy collapsed backward and came down with a great reverberating slam—and Stella watched with satisfaction as the hulking thing finally went up in flames and smoke.

"God _damn_," Auel laughed, "we still got it!"

Stella glanced up at the Abyss and Chaos, watching them land as she stowed away her saber and drew her rifle.

"Things are going to shit back there," Sting said with a sigh. "The enemy has broken through everywhere. A bunch of our troops are just running away." He nodded towards the base, where columns of smoke were already rising up. "What do you think? Is this still worth it?"

The Gaia stepped forward, rifle held high. "There's still fighting to do," Stella said, "and bad guys to get rid of."

With that, the Gaia took off towards the base. Sting and Auel glanced at each other, shrugged, and followed.

—

Rattling under the Destiny's heavy sword blows, the Strike Noir crossed its blades and caught the Arondight between them. Shinn cursed as the Noir hurled his blade high and charged in close for a killing blow—instead, Shinn jammed the Destiny's right foot forward, slamming clear into the Noir's chest and throwing it back.

Sven shook his head furiously and hurled the Noir down beneath the Destiny's horizontal sword swipe. Shinn followed with a scream, bringing his sword down onto the Noir's blades and throwing it back further.

"Well aren't _you_ difficult!" Shinn snapped, brought his sword down hard against the Noir's blades, and threw the dark mobile suit back. He charged forward, sword held back for a killing blow—

Instead, the Noir jammed one of its swords into the Arondight's path, deflecting its blow. Sven swung his left-hand sword towards the Destiny's waist, forcing it to jet backward and let the blade sweep by inches from the Destiny's armor. The Noir charged and started another ruthless chain of sword swings.

Shinn bit back a curse and waited as the Noir brought up one of its swords for another blow—and, with a scream, he lunged forward and pounded the Noir with his shoulder, throwing it back. He brought his sword around towards its waist, and cursed when the Noir thrust its left-hand sword into the path, deflecting Shinn's finishing stroke. Sven brought down his right-hand sword, forcing Shinn to rocket away backward, and he pointed his sword combatively at the Noir.

"Carpentaria has fallen," Sven said quietly, eyes fixed on the Destiny. "Your allies are fleeing. Continuing this battle is pointless."

"Maybe to you," Shinn snarled back, "but I'd never expect _you_ to understand."

Shinn pursed his lips as the seed fell and the two Gundams hefted their blades and charged at each other again.

—

The Twilight Gundam somersaulted over a horizontal saber sweep from the Morrigan, and inside Emily glowered down at the white mobile suit. It came charging again and suddenly let loose a blast from its twin rail gun, pounding the Twilight head-on. Emily hurled her machine towards the ground, dodging the Morrigan's killing saber stab, and whirled around to face her foe again.

"Now this is a fight!" Monique laughed. "You're finally fighting at the top of your game!"

Emily scowled back. "You haven't seen _anything_ yet."

"Oh?" The Morrigan charged again, saber in hand, pilot cackling triumphantly. "You wound me! So what will it take to draw out your real power, huh!" The Morrigan pounded the Twilight back with a downward saber hack. "How many of your demons do I need to dredge up?" With a crash, the Twilight kicked the Morrigan in the side of the head and spiraled back out of the white mobile suit's range. Monique cackled in delight. "Should I point out the great failure of your family life? Should we talk about your mother? Should I—"

"_Shut up!_" Emily screamed, and with a crash she brought her saber down onto the Morrigan's blade, throwing the white machine back even further. "I am _sick to death_ of your pathetic attempts to get under my skin!" The Morrigan shuddered under her blows. "You want to see my power? Fine! It'll be the last mistake you ever make!"

Monique merely laughed. "What, all you've got are threats, Angel of Death?"

Emily clenched her fists around the Twilight's controls and fixed the Morrigan with a furious glare. "Just remember," she snarled, "you brought this on yourself."

The Twilight's wings flashed to life and the Gundam took off with a blur of afterimages.

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

Meyrin eyed the hulking _Charlemagne_ as the _Minerva_ came twisting around towards its prow, dangerously close to the line of fire of its massive prow cannons. But they were nearing position, and the enemy's guns were charged up—and running hot—

She felt fire race through her veins. It was a risk, but if it worked, victory would be hers. "Chen, fire the Parsifal missiles, free target acquisition mode, set to infrared!"

"Infrared?" Chen echoed. "Captain, the heat buildup in the Tannhäuser—"

"Our missiles are going to target _us!_" Abbey finished. "What are you—"

"Just do it," Meyrin said through clenched teeth. "Abbey, divert all energy except for the engines to the forward heat management systems in the armor. Malik, accelerate us at flank speed towards the _Charlemagne_."

"What—are we going to ram them?" Roxy started. Meyrin shot her a look, and snapped her eyes back towards the _Charlemagne_. The _Minerva_ edged into position, and Meyrin blocked everything out as she fixed her eyes on the closing gap between the two ships—

"Parsifal, _fire!_ Malik, flank speed!"

The _Minerva_ shook as its missile tubes roared to life and its engines hurled it forward. The _Charlemagne_'s ventral guns swiveled to meet the challenge and opened fire, but the shots pounded against the _Minerva_'s prow uselessly—and a moment later the ship came streaking in.

Meyrin narrowed her eyes. "Malik, pull up, sixty degrees!"

The _Minerva_'s prow obligingly swung up, and the ship arced up above the _Charlemagne_'s hull. Meyrin glanced over her shoulder, blood and adrenaline pumping.

"Tannhäuser, _fire!_"

With a scream of straining metal, the _Minerva_'s Tannhäuser let loose a devastating stream of positrons, launching them into the sky over the _Charlemagne_'s hull. The heat level dropped, and Meyrin fought back the urge to smile as her own missiles locked on to the next highest heat source—

The sweet feeling of victory coursed through her veins as she watched her missile barrage slam into the _Charlemagne_'s white-hot prow, blowing apart the cannon inside and knocking the entire vessel back as though it had been kicked.

"Our Parsifals..." Chen started. "They've all impacted on the _Charlemagne!_"

"The next highest heat source was their prow," Abbey said with a smirk of approval. "I see."

Meyrin allowed herself a satisfied grin. "Chen, Tristans are to target the _Charlemagne_. Tear her up!"

Pulsing columns of beam energy lanced out from the _Minerva_'s Tristans and pounded their way through the _Charlemagne_'s smoldering prow, blowing off several of its ventral gun turrets and knocking the ship to the side. Smoke and fire pouring from its many wounds, the _Charlemagne_ staggered out of the sky and towards the beach.

At that, with a heavy sigh, Meyrin sat back and caught her breath.

—

"No matter what you do, I've won this fight!" Sven cried, swords clashing with the Destiny Gundam's massive blade. "This is all useless!"

Shinn ground his teeth, focusing instead on deflecting the blows from the Strike Noir and seeking his opening. The Noir came down with a brutal series of sword strokes, driving back the Destiny. Shinn pulled back and then lunged forward suddenly, pounding the Noir's twin blades with the Arondight.

"You have a lot of nerve to tell _me_ what's useless," Shinn snarled.

The Noir charged, blades raised for another attack. "You have clawed around on the margins of the world for too long!"

Shinn stormed forward with a scream and swung his sword forward, catching the Noir's blades. He continued forward anyway, ramming the Noir bodily with the Destiny's right shoulder—and with a crash, he brought his sword sweeping up to slice off its right arm, its right wing, and its head in one blow. The Noir tumbled towards the sea, its swords sailing to the side—but not before drawing its left-hand beam gun in its remaining hand and leveling it off for a final shot.

"_Not today!_" Shinn roared; with a crash, he brought the Destiny's left-hand palm cannon down onto the Noir's arm and blew it apart.

Inside the Noir, Sven watched with fury and disbelief as the Noir's lights darkened and the defeated mobile suit plummeted back towards the earth.

"Revel in your victory over me while you can, Wings of Light," he growled. "You've still lost this war."

—

The Chaos Gundam staggered out from behind an exploding building, with flaming wreckage raining down around it. Sting whipped his rifle up and opened fire, catching an Alliance Windam by surprise and blowing it apart—but two more rounded a corner and returned his fire, forcing him back behind his shield and the flimsy protection of another empty hangar.

"Man, we turn our backs for a little while to kill some giant bad guys and they go and fuck everything up," he grunted. "Auel! Stella! You hear me?"

A burst of static sounded for a moment before Auel's irritated face appeared on the auxiliary screen. "Sting! This is endless!" He paused and his image flickered as something blew up on his end. "They're fucking running away at this point. Is it really worth staying?"

The ground shook, and Sting glanced to the side with a small sense of relief as he saw the Infinite Justice and Savior come down next to him, and the Legend not far away. Another explosion flared up behind the Chaos, and Sting glanced back at the Gaia and Abyss as they flung themselves from the smoke.

"You guys have good news, right?" Sting asked.

Athrun snorted in disgust. "This whole thing is a mess. I'm going to try and get in contact with the _Minerva_ and see if we can get out of here while there's still time." He glanced towards the north—where the Alliance's fleet was eagerly landing more reinforcements, among the smoking ruins of the Resistance's fleet. "They stashed a space booster south of here, in Woomera, for the ship."

Sting heaved a sigh and glanced at Auel and Stella. "What a way for our grand plan to end the war to go, eh?" he asked, and rolled his eyes. "What about Shinn and Emily?"

"They are making their own fun," Rau put in with a smirk. "Athrun, I think the time has come to cut our losses."

Athrun cast a glare at Rau for a moment and turned away. "Let's find the _Minerva_."

As the Gundams lifted off, Sting glanced around the wreckage of Carpentaria—and the hopes and dreams of the Resistance, smoldering and dying among it.

"Well," he muttered to himself, "it was all kind of a crock of shit anyway, wasn't it...?"

—

"Don't think you're superior to me!" Monique snapped, eyes racing to keep up with the Twilight as it darted and flashed across the sky. "You still don't remember everything!"

Emily scowled at the panicking pilot on her auxiliary screen through dull, lightless eyes. "You just don't understand..." The Twilight closed in with a ruthless chain of saber strikes, driving the Morrigan back. "Not that I expect you would..."

The Morrigan whipped around, saber held high, only to catch an afterimage with its furious downward hack. Monique snapped her attention over her shoulder and swung around again, barely deflecting a saber swing from the Twilight aimed at her machine's back.

"I'll make you understand!" Emily cried, and charged forward with an army of afterimages around her—

Monique screamed in disbelief as the Twilight ripped off her Gundam's right arm with a palm cannon strike.

"That Gundam and that life _are not mine!_" Emily screamed.

Monique drew back, deploying the Morrigan's railguns—only for the Twilight to sweep its saber through their barrels and cut them both off.

"My body and my power and my life _are not yours!_"

The mutilated Morrigan staggered backward, throwing sparks—and an instant later, the Twilight lopped off its head with a clean horizontal blow.

"That's why...I'll take my power, as the Angel of Death, and make it my own! And I'll..."

Monique stared in horror and desperately drew a beam saber in the Morrigan's remaining hand, even as her mutilated machine threw sparks and smoke. "You little bitch—!"

Emily's eyes flashed in fury. "_I'll kill you!_"

The air filled with the sound of snapping metal as Emily stormed forward and drove her Gundam's saber clear through the Morrigan's cockpit. She hardly winced as she felt the pilot's life disappear—or as the Morrigan finally died and exploded before her.

Instead, parting the smoke with a burst of exhaust from the Twilight's wings, Emily merely watched as the debris drifted back towards the earth.

_She will be our angel of death_.

She shook her head and glowered back down towards the Morrigan's smoldering wreckage.

"I'll be _my own_ angel of death, father," she said, fists clenching and trembling around the Twilight's controls. "Just watch."

—

**Battleship **_**Minerva**_

Meyrin bowed her head in defeat as the words filtered through the _Minerva's_ bridge. It was no real surprise, but that made it no less demoralizing.

Chiao Xu sat in silence on the auxiliary screen, on what appeared to be the bridge of a land battleship. Joseph Copland stood by his side, speaking.

"Captain Hawke, you have to get to Woomera and get that space booster," he said, his face brooking no disagreement. "It is imperative. Get your crew, gather up what you can, and get the hell out of here."

Meyrin eyed the two leaders—one broken, the other still defiant—with concern. "What are we supposed to do when we get to space?"

"Anything. It doesn't matter right now." Copland glanced surreptitiously at Chiao Xu—but not surreptitiously enough, for Meyrin still caught the gesture. "You'll receive new orders as soon as we can get them to you. But right now we have to focus on saving what we can from this," he waved a contemptuous hand, "_mess_."

"I understand," Meyrin said. "What about you?"

"We have our own escape arrangements," Copland said, with another glance towards Chiao Xu. "We'll get in touch with you once we get to space, but that's all I can say." He offered a tired salute. "Good luck, Captain Hawke."

The screen went dark, and Meyrin resisted the urge to massage her throbbing temples. Not yet; the job wasn't done yet.

"Roxy," she said, "send the recall message out to our mobile suits. Malik, get us moving at flank speed to the south. Set course for Woomera." She paused, sparing one last glance at the carnage across the battlefield at Carpentaria. "Abbey, begin the pressure checks. We're going to space."

—

**Heaven's Base, Iceland**

Standing before it all in the Heaven's Base control room, Lord Djibril laughed with manic delight at the images before his eyes. Resistance fighters fleeing in terror, only to be cut down by Alliance infantry and armor and mobile suits; the antiquated fleet of the Resistance getting blown away, that huge ancient battleship of theirs snapping in two under a Gottfried cannon barrage; the Destroy Gundams plowing through the enemy lines and tearing them open, never to be resealed, before they had themselves been taken out. Grand Admiral MacIntyre already suspected that at least half of the Resistance's forces were dead or wounded, and the overwhelming majority of the survivors were in craven, desperate flight. It was complete. It was unquestionable. It was victory.

And, as the screens suddenly went dark and Lord Djibril's laughter went silent, he knew deep in his heart that it was now meaningless.

An emblem appeared on the screens, and every person in the room gasped in disbelief. Djibril felt fire rise up his spine. He knew that logo, the hourglass shape and the stylized, swooping lines—

Someone stood up in shock.

"That's...that's ZAFT!"

A brown-haired woman in a resplendent black and red ZAFT uniform appeared in an ostentatious control room, and Djibril knew in the marrow of his bones that the real war had finally begun.

—

**ZAFT mobile space fortress Messiah, Lagrange Point 5**

Fear. It was fear. It was enveloping the Earth Sphere like a dark cloud, icy tendrils reaching out to grip everything, every heart, every mind, every soul. The Earth Sphere was in fear.

And that, mused Valentine Sunogachi as she grinned for the cameras, made her return that much sweeter.

"Greetings, people of the Earth Sphere," she said with a smile. "I am Valentine Sunogachi, Marshal of ZAFT."

She paused and glanced almost imperceptibly at a man across the room—but he caught it, and Kira Yamato offered her the barest of smiles.

"Three years ago, you thought we had been destroyed, and our survivors had been exiled to Mars," Valentine went on. "But we have returned, and we are here now to declare war upon you of the Earth Sphere; you Naturals and traitors who destroyed our people. We have been exiled—but we have returned, and we have not forgotten. You, however, might not remember. Very well. We will remind you that we, the Coordinators of ZAFT, still live; our hearts still beat; and we are here to take what is ours." She stretched out her hand dramatically. "Mark my words well, people of the Earth Sphere. You do not know what agony we endured in our exile—but you will. When our war is done, you will know it as well as we do."

Valentine's grin flashed wicked, and she clenched her fist. All as she had foreseen.

"We are ZAFT...and we have returned."

—

End


End file.
